Implementing Shared Decision Making in Maternity Care

In March 2011, Lyn Paget, MPH, Director of Policy and Outreach at the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making (FIMDM) presented a webinar on implementing shared decision making in maternity care. The webinar addressed how shared decision making is different from informed consent and why this genuine patient centered approach is garnering so much attention in the health care quality and patient safety movements. Topics included the evidence that supports the use of patient decision aids, federal and state legislation related to shared decision making, the experiences of FIMDM’s demonstration cites, and the road ahead as we begin to think about how to bring SDM best practices to maternity care decision making.