NEW! Now Enrolling: 2026 Obstetric Sepsis Implementation Sprint

CMQCC and Stanford School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) are pleased to offer a novel quality improvement opportunity for obstetric sepsis care, comprising three working sessions and a final review meeting over four months in early 2026. The Sprint is open to hospital teams from any U.S. state and Washington, DC. Please see below for enrollment details and download an info sheet or a flyer for your hospital's reference.

 

About Obstetric Sepsis

Obstetric sepsis is now the second-leading cause of maternal mortality. It is also the primary cause of severe maternal morbidity during both the antepartum and postpartum periods, and the third-leading cause at delivery. Data from the California Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review (CA-PAMR) committee report estimate that 63% of maternal deaths from sepsis had a good or strong chance to have been preventable. Furthermore, for each maternal death, there are 50 women/birthing people who experience life-threatening morbidity from sepsis. This is concerning, given that prompt recognition and rapid treatment of pregnant and postpartum women/birthing people with sepsis usually results in good outcomes in this young and generally healthy population.

To assist healthcare providers in implementing evidence-based methods for timely recognition and treatment of sepsis, a community co-designed and co-led quality improvement collaborative for obstetric sepsis was launched in two states (California and Michigan). CMQCC partnered with the Dunlevie Maternal-Fetal Medicine Center at Stanford School of Medicine, Michigan Alliance for Innovation On Maternal Health (AIM), and Duke University to increase the impact of this effort.

The Obstetric Sepsis Collaborative (Oct. 2023-Dec. 2024) engaged mentor-led groups of six to ten hospitals. Each group had four mentors including a nurse, physician, community leader, and a patient with lived experience who added a unique perspectives on this work. The Community Leadership Group and the Clinical Advisory Board, in partnership with project leadership, developed a number of resources that will advance the care of patients with obstetric sepsis.  Many also address generalizable issues for all severe obstetric complications. These resources are available below.

  • Advocacy Tips for Patients and Families
  • Guide for Patient and Family Debriefs before Discharge
  • Obstetric Sepsis Flow Chart for Screening and Diagnosis
  • Urgent Maternal Warning Signs (developed by AIM/ACOG and the CDC)
  • Warning Signs Follow-up Guide for Health Care Professionals

 

Improving Diagnosis and Treatment of Maternal Sepsis Toolkit

"Improving Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstetric Sepsis, V2.0 Toolkit" was developed by the Sepsis Task Force Advisory Group and published in September 2025 as a resource for obstetricians, rapid response teams, and intensive care units who interact with women and birthing people during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. The toolkit introduces a new two-step screening and confirmation process to more accurately diagnose and treat obstetric sepsis. This screening and diagnostic approach has been updated as part of the NICHD-supported Obstetric Sepsis Collaborative active in California and Michigan. As part of the review process for the collaborative, the sepsis toolkit has been reviewed and updated to recognize:

  • Updates on screening
  • New and improved obstetric antibiotics
  • Infectious Diseases Society of America’s updated sepsis guidelines
  • Patient and provider resources from national obstetric organizations focused on Maternal Urgent Warning Signs, patient advocacy support, and clinician listening tips

Download Improving Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstetric Sepsis, V2.0 Toolkit (2025)

Individual sections of the toolkit are also available for download:

 

Key Resources

Webinars (2025)

Sepsis Collaborative Webinar Series (2023-2024)

 

2026 Obstetric Sepsis Implementation Sprint

The 2026 Sprint will share key implementation steps learned from the 18-month Michigan-California Obstetric Sepsis Collaborative and use CMQCC's "Improving Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstetric Sepsis, V2.0 Toolkit" as a guide throughout. The sessions will focus on practical implementation steps for the Toolkit at your institution, with less emphasis on background content, and will include plenty of time for questions. In addition, a series of recorded webinars (see Key Resources, above) are available to deepen clinical understanding. Whenever possible, we will use real hospital examples and experiences.

Key Topics to be covered include:

  • Implementation of the screening algorithm utilizing the Electronic Health Record (EHR)
  • Documentation of the bedside evaluation
  • Evaluation of lactate/blood cultures
  • Ideal treatment antibiotic selection
  • Patient support after a maternal adverse event
  • Case review practices that inform systems improvement
  • Alignment of Sepsis-3 definitions with the CMS SEP-1 measure

Benefits of Hospital Participation

Participating hospital teams will receive training materials, access to educational webinars, and implementation assistance from obstetric sepsis experts. The opportunity to network with hospital teams across the state/country that are also participating in this project is a unique benefit. A short cycle format provides the advantage of a concentrated learning opportunity without an extended time commitment. Participants also have the benefit of support from CMQCC staff, Stanford OB/GYN Department members, authors of CMQCC's "Improving Diagnosis and Treatment of Obstetric Sepsis Toolkit, V2.0 Toolkit (2025)," and hospital staff who have implemented the obstetric sepsis pathways. 

Cost

There is no enrollment fee, due to support from an NICHD grant. 

Download an info sheet or a flyer about the Sprint for your hospital's reference.

Expectations

  1. Commitment to attend all four working sessions and share any effective implementation strategies that you develop, for the benefit of others.
  2. Completion of the pre- and post-evaluations. There are no additional expected data submissions. In order to apply, the pre-evaluation Qualtrics survey must be completed by January 9, 2026. Upon completion of this survey, you will receive Zoom calendar invites for the four Sprint meetings – confirming your application has been accepted.
  3. A good faith effort in recruitment of team members from your unit to participate in the Sprint. Implementation is a team sport! An ideal team should include: members of the hospital sepsis committee, the quality improvement team, a nurse champion and a physician champion.

 
Please reach out to Ruhi Nath at rnath@stanford.edu with any questions or concerns!

Key Dates

Registration deadline: January 9, 2026

The Sprint's 90-minute sessions will take place virtually on the third Tuesday of each month at noon Pacific Time.

  • January 20, 2026: Kickoff
  • February 17, 2026: Session 1
  • March 17, 2026: Session 2
  • April 21, 2026: Session 3 and Closing

 

Related Publications: Sepsis Quality Improvement Collaborative

 

Funding Acknowledgement

Funding for the joint California and Michigan Obstetric Sepsis QI Collaborative is provided by a cooperative agreement with NICHD (UH3-HD108053).