Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC)

The Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative (LaPQC) is an initiative of the Bureau of Family Health and an authorized agent of the Louisiana Commission on Perinatal Care and Prevention of Infant Mortality. LaPQC is a network of perinatal care providers, public health professionals, and advocates who work to improve outcomes for birthing persons, families, and newborns in Louisiana. The LaPQC serves a vital role in supporting birthing facilities across the state in implementing evidence-based best practices that promote safe, equitable, and dignified birth.

For more information, please visit the LaPQC website: lapqc.org. 

About LaPQC’s Priorities

The LaPQC supports continuous quality improvement for better perinatal and neonatal outcomes. This work aligns with the Bureau of Family Health’s vision to value all Louisianans to reach their full potential, from birth through the next generation. Program staff are working on the following initiatives during the 2023-2024 state fiscal year:

Learn more about these programs using the links below:

• breastfeeding and infant nutrition through The Gift.
• maternal mortality, morbidity, and birth outcomes through the Safe Births Initiative.
• improving the identification, care, and treatment of birthing persons and newborns affected by opioids and substance use through the Improving Care for the Substance-Exposed Dyad (ICSED) Initiative.
• Understanding screening and referral pathways for caregivers of infants in the Caregiver Perinatal Depression Screening In Pediatrics Pilot.

Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative Report

The 2023 LaPQC Report is now available!

Access the 2023 Lapqc report here

About PQC Participation

What can participating LaPQC facilities expect to do? Typically, hospitals in the initiative work to:

• Assemble a multidisciplinary team, including a patient or family advisor.
• Attend monthly Collaborative calls and annual meetings to learn from other facilities as well as the LaPQC team and experts in obstetric and neonatal care.
• Meet with the LaPQC team quarterly to plan your QI work, negotiate barriers, and celebrate wins.
• Collect and report data for process and outcome measures using the Life Quality Improvement (QI) system.
• Share change ideas, best practices, and lessons learned with other teams during and between Learning Sessions.
• Prepare to sustain the changes beyond the initiative.

In an effort to recognize participating LaPQC facilities and create a system of sustained evidence-based change, the Collaborative offers the Louisiana Birth Ready Designation. With two tiers of achievement – Louisiana Birth Ready and Louisiana Birth Ready+ – the Designation recognizes facilities’ consistent, thoughtful healthcare improvement work. Birth Ready Designation also celebrates improved perinatal health outcomes, the result of implementing clinical practices that promote safe, equitable, and dignified birth for all birthing persons in Louisiana.

Click here to view the list of Louisiana hospitals that have achieved Birth Ready or Birth Ready+ Designation. To learn more about joining the LaPQC,  contact the LaPQC team, please email lapqc@la.gov.

New Law: Providing Urgent Maternal Protections (PUMP) for Nursing Mothers Act

The PUMP Act is a new law that makes several important changes and closes loopholes in the Break Time for Nursing Mothers law, which has required since 2010 that employers nationwide provide reasonable break time and a private, non-bathroom space for lactating employees to pump milk during the workday

Under the Break Time for Nursing Mothers law, as updated by the PUMP Act, employers of ALL sizes are required to provide a reasonable amount of break time and a clean, private space for lactating workers to express milk for up to one year following the birth of the employee’s child. The pumping space cannot be a bathroom. These protections apply regardless of the employee’s gender identity.

The PUMP Act:

• Expands the legal right to receive pumping breaks and private space to nearly 9 million more workers, including teachers, registered nurses, farmworkers, and many others.
• Makes it possible for an employee to file a lawsuit against an employer that violates the law.
• Clarifies that pumping time counts as time worked when calculating minimum wage and overtime if an employee is not completely relieved from their work duties during the pumping break.
• Clarifies that employers with fewer than 50 employees are covered by the law and must provide break time and space.

Please download the document below, which provides more detail on the PUMP Act, the available protections, resources if an employer does not comply, and information on what the Louisiana Dept. of Health (LDH), Office of Public Health (OPH), and Bureau of Family Health (BFH) are doing to support lactating employees.

PUMP Act Information

Additional Resources for the PUMP Act:

• LDH Employees can find information about LDH policy on supporting lactating employees in accordance with federal and state regulations: LDH Employee Lactation Support
• For Employees who work in Benson Tower: Benson Tower Lactation Room Guidelines
• For Employees who work in the Bienville Building: Bienville Lactation Room Guidelines
• Find more information about the PUMP Act from the US Breastfeeding Committee and resources for rail carriers and motorcoach employees: US Breastfeeding Committee
• For comprehensive information and resources about the law: U.S. Department of Labor Fair Labor Standards Act