Making Mother-Friendly Maternity Care a Reality

How many women hear the word “birth” and have a positive connotation of the life-changing, mind-altering experience where you let go of yourself long enough to let a new life come forth? How many women can say their health care provider supported them and shared with them at this deep, highly charged level? How many had access to information that enabled them to make educated decisions about their maternity care choices?

Surrounded by people even more passionate about birth than I am at the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) 2008 Forum in Orlando, FL, I realized that the tipping point is near. Maternity care is about to receive a major overhaul in our nation, all based on the Mother-Friendly Care Initiative.

I read The Birthing Project USA article. Connecting Moms is not alone. CIMS has a Grassroots Advocacy Group that has launched The Transparency Project. As of now, statistics are being collected so that women can complete The Birth Survey. It has been launched in New York and will be released nationally by fall. People are listening to birth stories. Women can reach outside their immediate circles to get real information about real experiences in their area.

Also, there is BirthNetwork National. This non-profit organization aims to promote the awareness and availability of mother-friendly maternity care by connecting consumers and professionals. Local chapters are forming across the country. One of the chapter requirements is that resource guides for providers of mother-friendly care be distributed to mothers. This is only one organization of many to bring people together to support mothers in pregnancy, birth, and beyond.

As mothers, we each have a story to share. No matter how beautiful or tragic, our births are part of the web of life, part of the collective birth of our future. Together we can help support new mothers on their journey into motherhood. They need education, support, and choices. We need to raise the awareness that birth in all forms is a woman’s right of passage, not an illness or a procedure. We need to join together, reveal the information that empowers us to make informed decisions, and raise the standard of care. Join in the birth advocacy community. Our children are worth it.