Each year, Neighborhood Family Practice (NFP) submits quality data to the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) Benchmarking Project. Earlier this month, NFP’s nurse midwifery program was awarded the Certificate of National Best Practice Triple Aim Achievement.

“We’re the only midwifery practice in Ohio to win this award for meeting the ‘triple aim’ of improving the patient experience, reducing cost of care and improving the health of populations by demonstrating high breastfeeding rates, low preterm birth and cesarean rates and reporting fiscal variables,” says Katy Maistros, APRN-CNM, certified nurse midwife and NFP’s associate medical director of midwifery services.

For many years, NFP’s midwifery program has worked to promote healthy birth outcomes by helping combat the infant mortality crisis in Cuyahoga County. The results of those efforts are significant – in 2019, just 12.9% of NFP midwife assisted births were by C-section versus 29.4% in Cuyahoga County*; 6.5% of NFP births were preterm (less than 37 weeks) versus 11.9% in Cuyahoga County*; and 4.8% were low birth weight compared to 10.5% in Cuyahoga County*. Also in 2019, 87% of NFP’s new mothers were able to begin successful breastfeeding while still in the hospital.

“Participation in the ACNM Benchmarking Project helps midwives speak authoritatively to insurers and consultants about which clinical practices need to be encouraged or discouraged to produce excellent outcomes,” says Maistros. “Benchmarking also acts as tangible proof of the improved outcomes and lower costs of midwifery care.”

Of 262 midwifery practices in the United States participating in the Benchmarking Project, 69 were designated Triple Aim Best Practices.

*2018 data is most recent available from Cuyahoga County Board of Health