Participation in a Quality Improvement Collaborative and Change in Maternity Care Practices

Abstract

Care immediately following birth affects breastfeeding outcomes. This analysis compared the improvement in maternity care practices from 2011 to 2013 among hospitals participating in a quality improvement collaborative, Best Fed Beginnings (BFB), to hospitals that applied but were not selected (non–Best Fed Beginnings [non-BFB]), and other hospitals, using Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey data to calculate total and subscores for 7 care domains. Analysis of covariance compared change in scores from 2011 to 2013 among BFB, non-BFB, and other hospitals. BFB hospitals had twice the increase in mPINC score compared to non-BFB and a 3-fold increase compared to other hospitals. Learning collaborative participation may have accelerated progress in hospitals implementing breastfeeding-supportive maternity care.