In this episode of The ASHE Podcast, host Dr. Priya Nori speaks with Dr. Alexia Foy-Crowder, Dr. Pam Bailey, and Dr. Grace Pazienza about their ASHE paper, “Stewardship opportunities in peripartum infections: a review of quality improvement initiatives and future directions” (September 2025).

They discuss why they focused on the peripartum population, the unique implementation challenges in obstetric care, and key findings from their study—including the high proportion of mother–baby dyads receiving antimicrobials and the striking variability across 199 identified regimens. The authors reflect on guideline discordance, the frequent presence of penicillin allergy labels, and how these issues create opportunities for stewardship intervention.

The conversation also covers practical strategies for engaging obstetric teams, metrics for improving antibiotic use, remaining research gaps, and how stewardship in obstetrics connects to maternal health disparities and global antimicrobial resistance.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antimicrobial-stewardship-and-healthcare-epidemiology/article/stewardship-opportunities-in-peripartum-infections-a-review-of-quality-improvement-initiatives-and-future-directions/BC262D79208E5215F7FF7562B579C6B2#article