Patient- and family-centered perinatal care: partnerships with childbearing women and families.

Providing patient- and family-centered care is not a simple endeavor. It requires a transformation in organizational culture that is reflected in a myriad of details at the departmental, clinical, and individual provider and patient levels. Patient- and family-centered practitioners know that it is not a recipe or formula of specific practices, but an evolving approach that guides policy and program development, facility design, decision making, and daily interactions throughout the healthcare system.