Calling all maternity care teams to the table! Exploring the driving forces contributing to interprofessional tensions in intrapartum care

Objectives To study the driving forces contributing to tensions between interprofessional maternity care practitioners on a labour and delivery (LD subjective interpretations of the “4-cm dilation rule,” a policy meant to standardize practice; and regulations that delayed timing of consultations. Conclusions Our study builds upon extant evidence that medicine-driven governance of midwifery practices can perpetuate interprofessional challenges. For example, the “3 consult rule” was established for patient safety purposes, but in practice can delay and disrupt work processes, potentially compromising patient safety. The three problematic work processes identified can be modified for improvement.