Franciscan Health Family Birth Center in Olympia Fields recently received two awards from the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative for its patient-centered care.
The Family Birth Center received the Leader Award for Birth Equity and the Quality Improvement Excellence Award for Promoting Vaginal Birth in 2022.
Joan Culver, director of patient care services at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields, said the Center was lauded for its efforts to promote universal screenings and address racial and social inequities to ensure women of color have optimal births. Center staff receives training to help remove implicit bias from prenatal care through delivery and post-partum care.
“We know non-Hispanic Black women are more likely to have pregnancy-related complications and we want to eliminate that as much as possible,” Culver said.
The Family Birth Center was also recognized by the Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative for working to reduce Cesarean sections in first-time mothers.
“We want to be able to give every mom the opportunity for a vaginal delivery whenever possible,” Culver said. “Cesarean sections are surgeries and we want to do the best we can to prevent that from happening so future births don’t require additional surgery.”
Culver said the Center especially trains staff to help with positions and other techniques to increase patient comfort and advance labor.
“I am so proud of all that this team continues to accomplish and the care they have continuously provided to all of our patients,” Culver said.
More information about the Olympia Fields Franciscan Health Family Birth Center, including a virtual tour, is available online or by phone at 708-852-2600.
