The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG, 2025) recommends structuring care settings to reduce Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex (NTSV) cesarean rates by ensuring adequate staffing, equipment, and training. Educational interventions include obstetric team training on maternal positioning during labor and active pushing, as well as labor-support techniques.
Spinning Babies® is an evidence-based approach that emphasizes maternal movement and positioning to optimize fetal alignment in the birth canal. Its strategies, taught in an eight-hour class, aim to shorten labor, reduce pain, strengthen contractions, promote fetal descent, and lower cesarean birth rates (Funk et al., 2024).
In February 2025, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara’s Labor & Delivery (L&D) department identified an opportunity to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes through Spinning Babies® training. Clinical Nurse Tamara Martin, BSN, RN, initiated contact with Kelly Dungan, RN, CPM, a Spinning Babies® representative, to obtain training course details. Former Nurse Manager of L&D, Deborah Pierson, DNP, RN, recognized the potential benefits and escalated the request to Maternal Child Health Nursing Director Cathleen Carey-Hamlin, MBA, BSN, RN, emphasizing anticipated improvements in patient safety and interdisciplinary collaboration.
This initiative aligned with L&D goals to enhance safety, reduce adverse outcomes, and integrate evidence-based practices. Spinning Babies® training equips staff with non-invasive, low-risk interventions that prevent complications such as prolonged labor and malpresentation. It also supports maternal preferences for vaginal birth and decreases NTSV cesarean rates.
These efforts led to the approval and implementation of two 1-day workshops in August 2025, attended by 36 clinical nurses and nurse midwives. Later that month, Department Voice of Nursing (VON) officers Julia Kim, MSN, PHN, RN, RNC-OB, C-OBE, and Jackie Nguyen, MSN, PHN, RN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, C-OBE, presented the training results to the VON Coordinating Council. The program fostered teamwork, standardized care practices, and advanced professional development through specialty training.
By integrating Spinning Babies® strategies, KP Santa Clara demonstrated how nurse-led advocacy can drive evidence-based practice, improve maternal and neonatal outcomes, and empower nurses to support laboring mothers in achieving safe, natural births.
References
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2025, April). Quality-improvement strategies for safe reduction of primary cesarean birth (Committee Opinion No. 17). ACOG Clinical Guidance. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-statement/articles/2025/04/quality-improvement-strategies-for-safe-reduction-of-primary-cesarean-birth [acog.org]
Funk, B. (2024). The effects of Spinning Babies® on nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex (NTSV) cesarean rates: A clinical trial. International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecological Nursing, 6(2), 101–106. https://doi.org/10.33545/26642298.2024.v6.i2b.165