Washington, DC — The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) announced that the Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) Program has moved forward into the Capacity Building and Designation Phase. During this important program expansion, the RMC program will establish a Train-the-Trainer (RMC-TTT) program to increase capacity and sustainability of a standardized program within healthcare settings.

The goals of the RMC-TTT program expansion include educating staff in the elements of respectful maternity care, including: mutual respect, accountability, awareness, autonomy, dignity, informed consent and shared decision making, enhancing the current AWHONN RMC program with support and guidance during the implementation process, expanded patient educational resources, and translating patient educational resources into  additional languages to support populations with limited English proficiency.

During this phase, the RMC initiative will also award the first Bronze Level Designation to hospitals participating in the program that have demonstrated implementation of the pathway to respectful maternity care.

Silver and Gold Level Designations will be awarded as the program’s impact expands to patient experience and patient outcomes, as well as a redesignation process required to maintain the RMC designations.

“Respectful maternity care is not just a practice—it’s a commitment to dignity, equity, and compassion in every birth experience. By championing the adoption of AHWONN’s Respectful Maternity Care Framework and Evidence Based Program across the U.S., we empower nurses with the education, research, and advocacy needed to support women, newborns, and families. Achieving a designation level in maternity care further demonstrates a facility’s dedication to excellence, ensuring accountability and the highest standards of care. Together with our partner, Huggies Healthcare, we can improve health outcomes and create a future where every mother and baby receives the respectful, high-quality care they deserve,” said Karen Crowley, DNP, APRN-BC, WHNP, ANP, CNE, Vice President-Nursing, Education, Research and Practice at AWHONN.

“Huggies is proud to support this critical research that will further enhance respectful maternity care,” said Matt Barresi, vice president of Huggies. “Ongoing education will continue to put these guidelines at the forefront of care, ultimately helping improve outcomes. We are incredibly grateful and appreciative of all nurses do to care for mom and baby, and we thank them for their dedication to the nursing profession.”

The Respectful Maternity Care Research-Based Initiative is supported by Huggies® Healthcare™. Huggies® Healthcare™ has been an invaluable partner with AWHONN in starting this Initiative through sponsorship for the development of the Respectful Maternity Care Evidence Based Guideline (RMC-EBG) and Implementation Toolkit (RMC-IT). The RMC Guideline and Implementation Toolkit launched in March 2022.

Collaboration and funding for this ongoing initiative will take place over a five-year period, from 2025-2030. During this time, AWHONN will continue to promote awareness of respectful maternity care, support, train and evaluate the implementation of the RMC EBG and RMC-IT through its train-the-trainer program in hospitals across the U.S. Dissemination of outcomes and revision and expansion of the program will be ongoing to support this initiative.

About AWHONN

The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization. Our mission is to empower and support nurses caring for women, newborns, and their families through research, education, and advocacy.

About Huggies® Brand

For more than 40 years, Huggies has been helping parents provide love, care and reassurance to their babies. From developing innovative, everyday products for babies to partnering with NICU nurses to develop a special diapers and wipes line for the most fragile babies, Huggies is dedicated to helping ensure all babies get the care they need to thrive. Huggies is also proud to be the founding sponsor of the National Diaper Bank Network, a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to eliminating diaper need in America since 2011. Huggies is also the founding sponsor of virtual NICU support groups through the national nonprofit Hand to Hold, which helps families before, during and after NICU stays and infant loss by providing powerful resources for the whole family. For more information on product offerings or our community efforts, please visit Huggies.com.

For more information, contact Shannon Doolin at sdoolin@awhonn.org.

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