A SEIPS-Based Analysis to Understand Safety Culture During Postpartum Hemorrhage

Background/Objectives: Maternal mortality occurs at alarming rates in the United States. In 2018, there were 17 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births—double that of other high-income countries, including France and Canada. Postpartum hemorrhage (i.e., excessive blood loss during delivery or within the 24 h following) is a leading cause of maternal mortality and is a treatable condition if identified and managed in a timely manner. One aspect of work that impacts patient care during postpartum hemorrhage is the safety culture. The safety culture is the beliefs, values, and norms shared by members of the organization that influence their actions and behaviors. In this study, we use the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model to understand and describe how the sociotechnical system shapes safety culture during postpartum hemorrhage. Methods: We conducted interviews and focus groups with 29 clinicians to describe the work system and the barriers and facilitators during postpartum hemorrhage. Then, we inductively categorized the barriers and facilitators into emergent properties of sociotechnical systems related to safety culture. Results: We identified 45 barriers and 158 facilitators into five emergent properties related to the safety culture (i.e., staffing, communication, organizational management and leadership, organizational processes, and teamwork). The participants identified more positive aspects than negative, suggesting that the safety culture positively influences their actions and behaviors. Conclusions: Our results indicate that safety culture could be improved by redesigning the work system to mitigate barriers related to staffing, communication, organizational management, and teamwork that hinder the safety culture.