Creating a maternal cardiac center of excellence: a call to action

Need for Better and Broader Training in Cardio‐Obstetrics: A National Survey of Cardiologists, Cardiovascular Team Members, and Cardiology Fellows in Training

“…This survey substantiates the need for developing new standards for training and educating members of the cardiology workforce to optimize the care provided to pregnant and lactating women with CVD, and to facilitate the expansion of dedicated cardio‐obstetrics centers. 16 These efforts will improve the care we provide to women with CVD who are planning or experiencing pregnancy and help reverse the alarming increase in rates of maternal morbidity and mortality experienced in this country.…”

“… 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 To address the complexities of providing care to these pregnant women, comprehensive cardio‐obstetrics team‐based approaches have been developed at several centers. 15 , 16 , 17 Despite the field’s existence for several decades and a growing evidence base to guide the care of patients, 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 the current state of cardio‐obstetrics knowledge and practices of cardiologists, fellows in training (FITs), and cardiovascular team (CVT) members, as well as the prevalence and composition of formal cardio‐obstetrics programs, is unknown. To answer these questions, we performed a cross‐sectional survey with a deliberate sampling design to provide results that are representative of the US membership of the American College of Cardiology (ACC).…”

The Role of Nurses in Fetal Cardiology Programs

“…Both the nursing and medical literature agreed on the necessity of the nurse acting as the coordinator of team members, ensuring all care needs for each stage of the pregnancy are met. Daming et al (2021) found that in their Maternal Cardiac Center of Excellence, “utilizing a nursing coordinator to oversee day-to-day case management, scheduling, and advocacy [was] crucial to success” (p. 4154). Nurses also coordinate accurate and timely documentation, sharing, and retrieval of patient records.…”

“…The nursing profession is known for its holistic methods in patient care, which positions nurses to provide excellent The nurse also serves as the navigator and contact person for the patient and family (Braley et al, 2022;Dopson et al, 2022;Kovacevic et al, 2021;Lee, 2017;Loyet et al, 2016). Daming et al (2021) noted that nurses are the point of contact for the patient throughout labor and birth and are intimately involved in care, while providing patients the knowledge to handle complex information of their diagnoses to optimize outcomes. Dawson et al (2018) reported that providing women with the phone number of a cardiac nurse to call if they had questions or were worried helped them feel more secure.…”

“…Nurses are well positioned to screen and identify preconception and prenatal cardiac risk factors and educate patients of childbearing age. When fetal heart conditions are discovered, collaboration among health care professionals is essential for positive infant and maternal outcomes (Daming et al, 2021; Davis & Walsh, 2019; Dopson et al, 2022). Caring for pregnant women with fetal cardiac diagnoses and personal history of cardiac disease can be extremely complicated, requiring multiple team members to manage and communicate to optimize care.…”