Childbirth Connection has developed a 2020 Vision for a High-Quality, High-Value Maternity Care System, and followed that through with a Blueprint for Action. If you are a consumer that wants to make positive change in the field of maternal child healthcare, start with these two initiatives.
Amy recommended we heed the words of former IHI CEO Don Berwick, who explains a vision for a better health care system here:
...as well as in this essay.
Amy also told us about the partnership between Childbirth Connection and the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation, who are working together to create a website to support informed decision making in maternity care.
We then discussed the "Reinventing the Wheel" syndrome, whereby well-intended maternity care reform activists develop new initiatives that are essentially outlining the same tenets as established initiatives, effectively dividing our efforts. In the spirit of joining forces, these are the Maternally Yours Collective's selection of forward-moving organizations, each with their own unique missions:
MISSION: Improving Maternity Care Systemically / Holistically
ORGANIZATIONS: Childbirth Connection, Lamaze International
MISSION: Cesarean Awareness / VBAC Access
ORGANIZATION: International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN)
MISSION: Legal Recognition of Certified Professional Midwives
ORGANIZATIONS: The Big Push for Midwives, The MAMA Campaign
MISSION: Consumer Awareness of Midwives Model of Care
ORGANIZATIONS: Citizens for Midwifery, Where's My Midwife?
MISSION: Breastfeeding Support and Awareness
ORGANIZATION: La Leche League International
MISSION: Reducing American Maternal Mortality
ORGANIZATION: The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project
MISSION: Legislative Action for Women's and Mother's Rights
ORGANIZATIONS: National Organization for Women, MOMSRising
MISSION: Local Outreach for Pregnant Women, Infants and Young Children
ORGANIZATION: Healthy Start Coalition
MISSION: Doula Support for Military Mothers
ORGANIZATION: Operation Special Delivery
MISSION: Doula Support for Incarcerated Women
ORGANIZATION: Birth Behind Bars
Finally, we talked with Amy Romano about the much-anticipated book she has co-authored with Henci Goer called Optimal Care in Childbirth: The Case for a Physiologic Approach. The book, hitting shelves in June, was written for those who want to practice according to the best evidence, assist women in making informed decisions, or advocate for maternity care reforms. Optimal Care in Childbirth provides an in-depth analysis of the evidence basis for physiologic care as the standard of care. With specific examination of cesarean surgery, VBAC, walking and position changes in labor, episiotomy, cord clamping, epidurals, the second stage of labor, eating and drinking in labor, and home and birth center birth, this is the most thorough analysis of evidence-based recommendation we have seen to date.
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