Respectful maternity care is essential to ensuring safe, equitable, and high-quality obstetric outcomes. Yet, a persistent gap remains between the care patients receive and their personal experience of that care. In response to this challenge, a multidisciplinary team at UPMC developed and implemented the Respectful Care Breakfasts (RCBs), bimonthly sessions where postpartum patients can share their birth experiences directly with a diverse group of care providers, including nurses, physicians, midwives, social workers, nurse managers, and hospital leadership. Staff participate exclusively as listeners, setting aside hierarchy and clinical roles to simply hear and honor patient voices.

The simple format of breakfast conversations grounded in open-ended questions represents a creative, effective, and low-cost solution to a pervasive challenge: the disconnect between clinical care and patient experience. Rather than relying on traditional metrics or surveys, the team created a unique forum that illuminates blind spots in care delivery while fostering connection across roles and disciplines.

The initiative has had an impact on both care quality and team culture. Post-event patient surveys showed high satisfaction (mean rating: 4.8/5), with participants expressing profound appreciation for being heard in a nonclinical setting. Healthcare staff reported a renewed commitment to respectful maternity care and greater insight into patient needs. Importantly, the RCBs catalyzed changes in practice, such as signage for birthing parents separated from their newborns—a patient-identified gap that was promptly addressed. 

Over a 12-month period, the RCBs have become an embedded and valued part of the hospital’s maternity care strategy, centering patients as active partners in shaping safer, more respectful systems.​