The Maternal Fetal Triage Index (MFTI) module educates perinatal nurses about obstetric triage basics—the meaning of triage in obstetrics, the nurse’s role, and the benefits of using a systematic approach to improve the process of triage and outcomes factoring in social determinants of health, health equity, and implicit bias.

The MFTI is a five-level obstetric acuity tool for nurses to use when they triage a woman presenting for care to a birth unit in order to prioritize the woman's urgency for provider evaluation.

What is AWHONN’s Maternal Fetal Triage Index (MFTI)? The Maternal Fetal Triage Index (MFTI) is a five-level acuity index for nurses to apply to their maternal and fetal nursing assessments when a woman presents to an obstetric

Classifying acuity gives you valuable data! Over 100 nurses, physicians and midwives contributed to developing the MFTI! • Does the woman or fetus have STAT/PRIORITY 1 vital signs? lifesaving intervention? Is birth imminent? have URGENT/PRIORITY 2 vital signs? OR. unrelated to contractions? OR. Is this a high-risk situation?

What is AWHONN’s Maternal Fetal Triage Index (MFTI)? The Maternal Fetal Triage Index (MFTI) is a five-level acuity index for nurses to apply to their maternal and fetal assessments when a woman presents to an obstetric unit for care in order to classify a woman’s acuity and prioritize the women’s urgency for provider evaluation based on acuity.

The Maternal-Fetal Triage Index (MFTI) is a standardized tool for obstetrical triage with good interrater reliability. 7, 8 Pregnant women are classified based on acuity using a 5-level system ranging from priority 1 (highest acuity) to priority 5 (lowest acuity).

Hospital-based obstetric units are urged to collaborate with emergency departments and hospital ancillary services, as well as emergency response systems outside of the hospital, to establish guidelines for triage of pregnant women.

The MFTI facilitates effective evidence-based triage of pregnant women by improving timeliness of care, rapidly identifying clinical needs, and promoting an environment that supports patient safety and favorable health outcomes.

The Maternal Fetal Triage Index (MFTI) (Ruhl et al., 2015) offers a standard method of assigning an acuity score to pregnant women presenting to the hospital for care. It is thought to be the first OB triage acuity tool validated for multidisciplinary use (Ruhl et al.).

The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses has developed and validated the Maternal Fetal Triage Index. This standardized approach to assessing and assigning acuity of pregnant women who present to the hospital for care may be an effective and safe way to allocate care and resources.