Patient engagement in healthcare is widely encouraged, but findings from some studies suggest that patient participation can have negative effects. This qualitative study with 16 patients and obstetric healthcare professionals examined the negative effects of patient participation in healthcare. Researchers identified four types of negative consequences from patient participation in safety – decreases in patient confidence, eroding of the patient-professional relationship, unwanted increases in patient responsibility, and excess time spent by professionals on the patient.

Effective teamwork is critical for patient safety and numerous training strategies exist for improving team dynamics. The labor and delivery unit of an American hospital offered Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) training to all physicians and nurses on the ward, and assessed perceptions of teamwork and safety both before and six months after training. Results were mixed, and physician and nurse perceptions of safety significantly differed.

Racial and ethnic health disparities are receiving increased attention, and yet structural racism continues to negatively impact communities of color. This review identified only six papers studying the impact of structural racism on severe maternal morbidity (SMM). Despite heterogeneity in measures and outcomes, the studies all demonstrated a link between structural racism and SMM; additional research is required.

Maternal near misses are associated with lower quality of life and poorer outcomes for the pregnant person and their family. In this study, 12 Black women who experienced a maternal near miss describe major contributors. They list communication problems, such as not being believed, their relationship with their provider, and provider discrimination as major contributors.

Trans and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people may delay or avoid seeking healthcare due to experiences with biased or uninformed providers. This study focuses specifically on obstetric and gynecological care providers who provide care to TGNC people. Participants described challenges at the clinic level (e.g., needing at least one knowledgeable and interested clinician) and administrative level (e.g., trans men who have a cervix do not get automatic reminders for PAP tests) that can prevent TGNC people from receiving equitable care.

Obstetric and gynecologic (OB/GYN) physicians are frequently involved in malpractice lawsuits, some of which result in catastrophic payouts. This study categorized malpractice claims involving OB/GYN trainees (students, residents, and fellows) between 1986 and 2020. Cases are categorized by type of injury, patient outcome, category of error, outcome of lawsuit, and amount of settlement.

Normalization of deviance describes a situation where individuals, teams or organizations accept a lower standard of performance until that lower standard becomes the “norm” and can threaten patient safety. This article describes five serious medical errors in obstetrics and highlights how normalization of deviance contributed to each event.

Obstetrics is a considered a high-risk care environment. This claims-based retrospective analysis found that abortion-related morbidity or adverse events occurred in nearly 4% of abortions but that event rates did not differ between OBGYNs or physicians of other specialties.

Health equity in maternal safety is a major patient safety goal. Researchers interviewed health care professionals, including frontline nurses and physicians, chief medical officers, and quality and safety officers, from high- and low-performing hospitals. Six themes emerged differentiating high and low performers: 1) senior leadership involved in day-to-day quality activities and dedicated to quality improvement, 2) a strong focus on standards and standardized care, 3) strong nurse-physician communication and teamwork, 4) adequate physician and nurse staffing and supervision, 5) sharing of performance data with nurses and other frontline clinicians, and 6) explicit awareness that racial and ethnic disparities exist and that racism and bias in the hospital can lead to differential treatment. PSNet offers a Patient Safety Primer and Curated Library on maternal safety.