Group Hopes To Improve Childbirth

A regulatory group hopes to improve the quality of childbirth and delivery services in hospitals by tracking data in a new way. For the first time, the Joint Commission is asking hospitals to report data on induced labor and exclusive breast feeding. The measures are endorsed by the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the quality of health care. Hospitals that participate also will collect data on cesarean sections and bloodstream infections in newborns. Hospitals will start reporting in the spring. Expectant parents will be able to view the results on a Web site in 2011. Jerod Loeb of the Joint Commission says this is a major change in how the group measures the quality of perinatal care.