EBB 390 - Simple but Effective Communication Techniques for Hospital Birth with Dr. Amber Weiseth, DNP, RNC-OB of Ariadne Labs and TeamBirth
Evidence Based Birth®
Rebecca Dekker
4.3 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 11 March 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we explore how the traditional "game of telephone" model in hospitals can leave birthing people out of critical decisions about their own care and what happens when we redesign the system to center them instead.
Dr. Rebecca Dekker sits down with Dr. Amber Weiseth, obstetric nurse and Director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs, to talk about TeamBirth—a simple, evidence-based communication model transforming labor and delivery units across the U.S. and globally. Learn how structured bedside "huddles," shared decision-making, and a visible planning board can improve trust, autonomy, and patient experience, with especially powerful impacts for Black, Native American, publicly insured, and higher-risk patients. Because communication failures in childbirth aren't just awkward, they can be dangerous.
(05:07) How the "game of telephone" model blocks patients from decision-making
(09:15) Traditional rounding and decision-making in U.S. labor units
(12:10) The added complexity of academic medical centers
(14:52) A life-threatening hemorrhage and the power of systems change
(17:57) What is TeamBirth?
(22:04) How the TeamBirth board works: team, preferences, plan, next huddle
(26:57) Implementation challenges and culture change in hospitals
(34:36) Privacy, speakerphone huddles, and navigating complex family dynamics
(44:15) Research results: Impact on trust, autonomy, and equity
Resources
TeamBirth resources, research, and implementation materials: ariadnelabs.org/delivery-decisions-initiative/teambirth/teambirth-implementation-resources/
WHO Surgical Safety Checklist initiative: who.int/teams/integrated-health-services/patient-safety/research/safe-surgery/tool-and-resources
Association of Women's Health Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses: awhonn.org/
For more information about Evidence Based Birth® and a crash course on evidence based care, visit www.ebbirth.com. Follow us on Instagram and YouTube! Ready to learn more? Grab an EBB Podcast Listening Guide or read Dr. Dekker's book, "Babies Are Not Pizzas: They're Born, Not Delivered!" If you want to get involved at EBB, join our Professional membership (scholarship options available) and get on the wait list for our EBB Instructor program. Find an EBB Instructor here, and click here to learn more about the EBB Childbirth Class.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | information could be left out. The patient's voice isn't a part of it. Many of the health care |
| 0:06.4 | decisions are actually made over the telephone. It can get quite messy. They're not at the center |
| 0:11.8 | of the communication at all. They're not the center. Hi, everyone. On today's podcast, we're going to |
| 0:16.9 | talk with Dr. Amber Wyseth, a registered nurse certified in obstetric nursing, about how we can |
| 0:22.4 | improve communication and hospitals using the team birth approach. |
| 0:30.2 | Welcome to the evidence-based birth podcast. My name is Rebecca Decker, and I'm a nurse with my |
| 0:35.4 | PhD and the founder of evidence-based birth. |
| 0:38.7 | Join me each week as we work together to get evidence-based information into the hands of |
| 0:43.7 | families and professionals around the world. As a reminder, this information is not medical advice. |
| 0:50.2 | See eBbirth.com slash disclaimer for more details. |
| 0:55.8 | Hi, everyone and welcome to today's episode. I am so excited about this topic of improving |
| 1:01.3 | communication and hospital labor and delivery units. Today we have with us Dr. Amber Wyseth, |
| 1:06.9 | who has her doctorate in nursing practice as well as as her master's in nursing, and is a registered |
| 1:12.1 | nurse certified and obstetric nursing. Dr. Weiseth is a research scientist at the Harvard |
| 1:17.6 | T.H. Chen School of Public Health, and she's the director of Ariadne Labs' delivery decisions |
| 1:24.4 | initiatives. In these roles, Dr. Wyseth leads a research portfolio focused on |
| 1:29.1 | enhancing communication, dignity, safety, and evidence-based practice in maternal health. As an |
| 1:35.4 | obstetric nurse for more than 20 years, Amber specializes in maternal child health, quality |
| 1:40.8 | improvement in systems innovations, and she served on the board of directors for the Association of Women's Health, Obcetric, and Neonatal Nurses, known to many of us as A-Wan. |
| 1:52.1 | Dr. Wyseth is here today to talk with us about an innovative, evidence-based project for improving communication in hospitals known as team birth. Dr. Wyseth, |
| 2:03.8 | welcome to the evidence-based birth podcast. Thank you so much, Rebecca. It's a pleasure to be here. |
| 2:08.9 | Our team are big fans of the work you do, and so just honored to be able to have time to have a |
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