Certification program advances life-saving education in obstetrics care

With goals of improving patient safety and positively impacting maternal outcomes, faculty members and residents from the USA Health Department of Family Medicine, along with Monroe County Hospital staff, recently participated in a training program on Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) at Monroe County Hospital in Monroeville, Ala.

The certification program is an evidence-based, interprofessional and multidisciplinary course that equips maternity care teams with skills to effectively manage obstetric emergencies.

“It teaches providers from all disciplines, from nursing to obstetrics and family medicine, how to work together as a team to take care of moms and improve outcomes for mothers and babies,” said Rebecca Sollie, M.D., a family medicine physician at USA Health and an associate professor of family medicine in the USA College of Medicine, who served as course director for the life support course at Monroe County Hospital in March 2022. “This has become a big issue in our country as maternal mortality rates are high, especially in rural areas or communities with less access to healthcare.”

During the course, instructors incorporated teamwork skills and communication strategies, so everyone could practice managing emergencies, reducing errors and increasing patient safety, Sollie said.

The training precedes the start of a new obstetrics program at the USA Health Department of Family Medicine, which is set to begin in July 2022. The initiative aims to provide more obstetrics care experience to residents in rural and urban areas in Alabama where prenatal care often is nonexistent.

The instructors for the certification course were Sollie, Amelia Hewes, M.D., an obstetrician-gynecologist at USA Health; Shelley Wagner, M.D., Sadhika Jamisetti, M.D., and Lindsay Harbin, M.D., family medicine physicians at Monroe County Hospital.

Learn more about the Family Medicine obstetrics program in the latest edition of GME Pulse.