AABC Members Shine in ACNM Benchmarking

AABC Member Birth Centers Achieve Best Practices Designations in ACNM Benchmarking

Twenty-seven member birth centers were recognized for their exemplary outcomes in the 2020 ACNM Benchmarking project. Each year, the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) asks midwifery practices with certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) or certified midwives (CMs) to participate in the ACNM Benchmarking Project. The purpose of this project is to gather and use data to monitor, maintain, and improve the quality of midwifery care.

Best Practices are named based on the data reported by the practice being one of the top three practices in that category. These practices are in categories based on practice volume by number of births per year: low ≤ 50, low moderate 50-199, high moderate 200-499, and high ≥ 500. For some categories, no best practices were identified in a birth volume subcategory because all practices reported 0 or 100% per the variable.

Labor & Birth Outcomes

Spontaneous Vaginal Birth Rate

• Birth Center of Bloomington Normal (Bloomington, IL)
• Willow Midwife Center for Birth & Wellness AZ, LLC (Mesa, AZ)

Primary Cesarean Rate

Birth Center of Bloomington Normal (Bloomington, IL)
The Coit House (Buffalo, NY)
Willow Midwife Center for Birth & Wellness AZ, LLC (Mesa, AZ)
Rate of Cesarean Birth Among Nulliparous Women with a Term, Singleton Baby in a Vertex Position (NTSV)

Beach Cities Midwifery & Women's Health Care (Laguna Hills, CA)
Health Foundations Birth Center + Women’s Health Clinic (St. Paul, MN)
The Coit House (Buffalo, NY)
Rate of Postpartum Hemorrhage

Connecticut Childbirth & Women’s Center (Danbury, CT)
PERINEAL OUTCOMES
Rate of Women with Intact Perineum (perineum is intact or only small laceration(s) not requiring repair)

New Birth Company (Overland Park, KS)
The Birth Center, A Nursing Corporation (Sacramento, CA)
INFANT OUTCOMES
Preterm Birth Rate (infants from a singleton birth born at less than 37 weeks gestation)

Beginnings Birth Center (Colorado Springs, CO)
Minnesota Birth Center (Minneapolis, MN)
Willow Midwives (Minneapolis, MN)
Rate of Low Birth Rate (infants from a singleton birth born weighing less than 2500 grams)

Health Foundations Birth Center + Women's Health Clinic (St. Paul, MN)
Minnesota Birth Center (Minneapolis, MN)
Rate of NICU Admissions of infants born from a singleton birth (any admission to a level 2 or level 3 nursery for any length of time)

Birth Center of Bloomington Normal (Bloomington, IL)
The Birth Center, A Nursing Corporation (Sacramento, CA)
BREASTFEEDING OUTCOMES
Exclusive Breastfeeding Rate First 48 Hours

Lifecycle WomanCare (Bryn Mawr, PA)
Rate of Women Breastfeeding at 6-week Postpartum Visit

Bloomin' Babies Birth Center (Grand Junction, CO)
Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness AZ, LLC (Mesa, AZ)
RESOURCE UTILIZATION OUTCOMES
Rate of Inductions

Beginnings Birth Center (Colorado Springs, CO)
Wichita Falls Birth & Wellness Center (Wichita Falls, TX)
Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness AZ, LLC (Mesa, AZ)
Rate of Epidurals Used for Pain Relief During Labor (not including epidurals placed only for anesthesia for operative delivery)

Beginnings Birth Center (Colorado Springs, CO)
Midwifery Center at TMC, El Rio Health (Tucson, AZ)
New Birth Company (Overland Park, KS)
Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness AZ, LLC (Mesa, AZ)
TRIPLE AIM
"Triple Aim" Best Practice designation recognizes practices which meet the Institute for Healthcare Improvement "Triple Aim" of improving the patient experience, reducing cost of care, and improving the health of populations. This is demonstrated by high breastfeeding rates (>81%), low preterm birth (<11.4%) and cesarean rates (<23.9%), and reporting fiscal variables. Of the 221 practices participating in the 2020 ACNM Benchmarking Project, 53 practices were designated Triple Aim Best Practices. Twenty-two are AABC birth centers and 14 are recognized for the second consecutive year (marked with *).

Beach Cities Midwifery & Women's Health Care (Laguna Hills, CA)
Birth Center at PCC (Berwyn, IL)*
Birth Center of Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge, LA)*
Birth Center of Bloomington Normal (Bloomington, IL)
Birth Center of Denver (Denver, CO)*
BirthCare & Women's Health (Alexandria, VA)*
Breath of Life Women's Health & Birth Center (Largo, FL)*
Connecticut Childbirth & Women’s Center (Danbury, CT)*
Dar a Luz Birth & Health Center (Los Ranchos, NM)*
Flagstaff Birth and Women’s Center (Flagstaff, AZ)*
Health Foundations Birth Center + Women’s Health Clinic (St. Paul, MN)*
Holy Family Birth Center (Fort Wayne, IN)
Lifecycle WomanCare (Bryn Mawr, PA)*
Midtown Nurse-Midwives (Sacramento, CA)*
Minnesota Birth Center (Minneapolis, MN)*
New Birth Company (Overland Park, KS)
New Birth Company (Kansas City, KS)
Perkin Alternative Birth Center (New Orleans, LA)
The Birth Center, A Nursing Corporation (Sacramento, CA)*
The Coit House (Buffalo, NY)
Tree of Life Family Birth Center (Jeffersonville, IN)
Wichita Falls Birth & Wellness Center (Wichita Falls, TX)*
4 CORE
The “4 Core” Best Practice designation has been designed to acknowledge practices achieving nationally established benchmarks for physiologic birth. (Induction of labor <10%, primary cesarean birth rate <15%, episiotomy <2%, exclusive breastfeeding after first 48 hours >75%). These four measures are harmonized with the National Quality Forum (NQF) and Joint Commission perinatal quality measures. Of the 221 practices participating in the 2020 ACNM Benchmarking project, there are 22 practices that achieved all four benchmarks. Six are AABC birth centers. Additionally, two member birth centers have earned this designation for two years in a row (marked with *)

Beach Cities Midwifery & Women's Health Care (Laguna Hills, CA)
Beginnings Birth Center (Colorado Springs, CO)*
Birth Center of Bloomington Normal (Bloomington, IL)
Birth Center of Denver (Denver, CO)
Minnesota Birth Center (Minneapolis, MN)*
Willow Midwife Center for Birth and Wellness AZ, LLC (Mesa, AZ)
Since 2014, AABC has collaborated with the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) to bring more data-driven information to birth centers to help moms and babies. For AABC members entering their data in the AABC Perinatal Data Registry™ (PDR), a simple consent form is all that is needed to share their PDR data with the ACNM Benchmarking Project.