MOTHER-FRIENDLY CHILDBIRTH INITIATIVE (fwd)

[Laura Larsson]

Friends:

I'm forwarding this from a colleague of mine because one of the elements
is breastfeeding, of interest to some, if not all of you.

Regards,

Laura
larsson at u.washington.edu
listowner: PHNUTR-L at u.washington.edu
WebSpinner: Public Health Nutritionists Home Page: 
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~larsson/phnutrit/nutrhome.html



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 11:54:17 -0500
From: Peg Allen <pallen at TCCCOM.NET>
Reply-To: Medical Libraries Discussion List <MEDLIB-L at UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list MEDLIB-L <MEDLIB-L at UBVM.CC.BUFFALO.EDU>
Subject: MOTHER-FRIENDLY CHILDBIRTH INITIATIVE

As posted on the Nursing Research listserv; shared with permission:

THE MOTHER-FRIENDLY CHILDBIRTH INITIATIVE

     NurseRes joins others in announcing the publication of
     the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative by The
     Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS).  The
     paper culminates two years of cooperative efforts by a
     coalition of 25 maternity care organizations and 27
     prominent individuals.

     The coalition includes professional associations of
     midwives, maternity care nurses, childbirth educators,
     providers of labor support and postpartum home support,
     breastfeeding counselors, researchers, physicians,
     authors, and consumer advocates.  In the aggregate, the
     coalition represents tens of thousands of maternity
     care professionals.

     The group came together to promote a wellness model of
     maternity care that will improve birth outcomes for
     mothers and babies while considerably reducing costs.
     The coalition believes that improvement in maternity
     care will come by basing care on the evidence of
     world-wide medical research.  This care would focus on
     prevention and wellness, meet the psychological and
     social needs of childbearing families, and stop the
     routine use of high-cost, ineffective, and even harmful
     testing and treatment.

     Dr. Marsden Wagner, a perinatal epidemiologist and an
     American consultant to the World Health Organization
     commented: "Health is political.  Genuine democracy is
     served when coalitions such as this one promote change
     in maternity services through initiatives which demand
     that the public be fully informed.  Once families are
     fully informed they will truly have the freedom to
     choose the maternity care best suited to their own
     needs."  The Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative
     offers a design for moving from the present high-cost
     form of maternity care where profits and fear of
     lawsuits  often drive decision making to a system of
     partnership and cooperation between the pregnant woman
     and her care givers.

     The critical need for the consensus document is
     expressed in its preamble.  For example, the U.S.
     spends far more money per capita on maternity and
     newborn care than any other country.   Yet, the U.S.
     falls behind most industrialized countries in rates of
     illness and death of newborns, and maternal death rates
     are four times greater for African-American women than
     for Euro-American women.  The U.S. also has one of the
     world's highest cesarean rates--more than one in five
     women gives birth by major surgery--although research
     shows that this rate could safely be halved.  The
     "Principles" section of the document lists the beliefs
     the participants hold in common.  These include that
     birth can safely take place in hospitals, birth centers
     or homes; that women should receive accurate and
     up-to-date information about the benefits and risks of
     all procedures, drugs, and tests and have the right to
     give informed refusal; and that maternity care practice
     should be based solely on the needs of mother and child
     and not any other person or entity.

     Dr. Wagner, a ratifier of the Initiative said,  "Change
     for the better in maternity care will come only when
     the public understands the need to convert the present
     doctor-friendly hospitals to mother-friendly hospitals.
     The needs of the women must always come first."

     CIMS plans in the near future to develop a means of
     officially designating birth sites as Mother-Friendly.
     Meanwhile, the Ten Steps of the Mother-Friendly
     Childbirth Initiative provide a checklist that home
     birth services, free-standing birth centers, and
     hospitals can use to evaluate their quality of care.
     In addition, pregnant women and professional or
     consumer organizations can use the initiative to
     compare the quality of services offered in their
     communities.  For example, step 6 requires that
     mother-friendly birth sites have a total cesarean rate
     of 10% or less in community hospitals and 15% in
     high-risk hospitals and a vaginal birth after cesarean
     rate of 60% or more.

     For a copy of the Initiative that includes a list of
     the organizations and individuals ratifying the
     document visit the web site at either

     http://www.healthy.net/cims or

     http://www.lamaze_childbirth.com

     and download a digital text copy of the document.  The
     Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, CIMS, has
     given permission to reproduce the document with
     attribution, and copying is  encouraged.  Visit the
     MFCI Forum website "http://www.healthy.net/forums.htm"
     for a discussion sponsored by Healthworld Online on the
     Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative.
********************************************
Margaret (Peg) Allen, MLS-AHIP
Library/Information Consultant
Resource Librarian Consultant for Cinahl Information Systems
Library Consultant for Northern Wisconsin AHEC, Inc.
PO Box 2, 308 Kann,  Stratford, WI 54484-0002
(715)687-4976 or (715)687-2287  Fax:(715)687-4976
pallen at tcccom.net