The Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers is committed to helping CABC-accredited freestanding birth centers and alongside midwifery units maintain the high level of quality they demonstrated when achieving accreditation. One aspect of this commitment is our process for accepting and reviewing complaints or concerns submitted to CABC regarding one of our accredited centers.
How to Report a Complaint About a Center
If you have a complaint about the quality of care at an accredited center, please use the Birth Center Quality Incident Report Form at the bottom of this page.
Scope of Complaint Evaluations
The CABC strongly encourages you to first bring your complaint to the attention of the birth center Director.
The CABC addresses all complaints that are within the scope of the CABC’s Indicators of Compliance with the Standards for Birth Centers or the Alongside Midwifery Unit Standards.
Complaint information is used to:
- Ensure the center’s continued compliance with CABC accreditation requirements.
- Improve the quality and relevance of CABC Indicators and Standards.
Eligibility for Complaint Review
- The center involved is currently accredited by CABC or was CABC-accredited at the time of the incident involved in the complaint.
- The Complainant is one of the following
- Center client or Personal Representative as defined by HIPAA
- Family members or other support persons approved by the birth center client and present for birth center care. CABC will first obtain written consent from the birth center client to proceed with the Complaint review.
- Center staff member and healthcare providers
- Receiving hospital personnel, healthcare providers, or Consulting Clinical Specialist who have been directly involved in the client’s care or have administrative responsibility for that care
- Other healthcare professionals or community health workers who were directly involved in the care of the client – e.g. doula, lactation consultant, home health agency personnel, pediatric care provider.
- The complaint information is relevant to CABC Indicators or Alongside Midwifery Unit Standards in place at the time of the incident in question.
- The complaint relates to an incident occurring within the 365-days of the compliant being filed.
- The information provided in the complaint is sufficiently clear to allow determination of its relevance to the CABC Indicators or Alongside Midwifery Unit Standards.
CABC does not review complaints that involve:
- Centers not accredited by CABC at the time of the incident AND currently
- Complainant who is not one of those listed above
- Incidents occurring more than 365-days prior to filing of the complaint.
- Individual billing issues or payment disputes.
- Areas of possible criminal or civil violations of the law.
- Allegations of malfeasance.
CABC does not:
- Direct, evaluate or comment on the clinical management of an individual client’s care.
- Review complaint proceedings and findings between another organization or agency and the same Complainant.
- Mediate between the Center and Complainant.
- Retain any records of the complaint review other than the final summary letters.
What is the Complaint Review Process?
