We are only human - Effective training in human factors.

The avoidance of harm is an increasingly important theme in healthcare, and this is particularly the case in women's health. Adverse outcomes in maternity care have a profound impact on mothers, babies, families, and caregivers. Healthcare systems have increasingly focussed on human factors as a way to analyse and prevent mistakes. The experience in the airline industry cannot equate to the experience in healthcare, and the specific considerations of maternity care dictate a specialised approaches needed. Human factors' training has not yet been systematically adopted into maternity systems. It is nonetheless increasing in its scope, and key features include teams training together to acquire non-technical skills. There is a growing body of evidence not such training can both reduce harm and improve safety culture. There is an ongoing need to couple this training with approaches to improving organisational culture and adopting safe systems in healthcare.