Forwarded with permission ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joyce Blangiardo RN, FACCE, IBCLC Rockville Centre, NY [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 18:34:43 -0600 From: "Sharron S. Humenick" <[log in to unmask]> To: Multiple Recipients - Overflow Header Below <[log in to unmask]> Subject: FW: press release for MFCI Dear Colleague- You may have already seen the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative which is discussed below but you may not have seen the press release or have had the address for a www version of the document. Please send this out to the list servs and colleague you have on internet so that as many interested people as possible can be reached. We can circle the globe. You are encouraged to release it to local press and newsletters. radio stations etc. Sharron Humenick ---------- THE MOTHER-FRIENDLY CHILDBIRTH INITIATIVE PRESS RELEASE - October 23, 1996 Contact -------------------- [individual or organization name here] and others announce 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 free electronic copies of the initiative visit websites: http://www.healthy.net/cims or http://www.lamaze_childbirth.com and download a digital text copie 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. Please release this on October 23, our common release date. If mailing, please send to arrive on October 23 or the next two days. This press release is generic. Individuals or organizations may wish to adapt it to their own use or use it as is. Please get the press release to your local and metro newspapers, radio and TV stations, media persons you may know, or anyone else who should receive a copy. -------------------