CIMS Mission Statement
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) is a coalition of individuals and national organizations with concern for the care of and well-being of mothers, babies, and families. Our mission is to promote a wellness model of maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and substantially reduce costs. This evidence-based, mother-, baby- and family-friendly model focuses on prevention and wellness as the alternative to high-cost screening, diagnosis, and treatment programs.
What is the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative?
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) is a collaboration of maternity service professionals including midwives, physicians, nurses, childbirth educators, labor support providers, lactation consultants, postpartum care providers and consumer advocates. In 1996, after two years of meetings, the organization produced a consensus statement regarding childbirth practices in the United States. The Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI) is an evidence-based document that provides guidelines for identifying and designating mother-friendly birth sites including hospitals, birth centers and homebirth services. The initiative outlines ten steps for mother-friendly care and includes a requirement for birth sites to also qualify as baby-friendly according to World Health Organization guidelines.
The MFCI has generated interest both at a national level and abroad. Adaptability was designed into the document, and organizations in many other countries are translating and disseminating the information or adapting it to their own needs.
CIMS is now focusing on a variety of methods for putting the MFCI to work. For more information about CIMS, visit their website at http://www.healthy.net/cims or write them at 2120 L St., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20037; telephone number is 202-478-6138.-excerpted from Quickening, March-April 1999
Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (paraphrased and condensed)
Principles:
-Normalcy of the Birthing Process: Women and babies have the inherent wisdom to birth; babies are aware, sensitive human beings and should be treated as such; breastfeeding provides optimum nourishment; birth can safely take place in hospitals, birth centers and homes; midwifery model of care is the most appropriate for the majority of women.
-Empowerment: A woman's confidence and ability to give birth and care for her baby are enhanced or diminished by those who give her care and by the birth environment; a mother and baby's interconnectedness must be respected; the childbearing period is a milestone event that profoundly affects its participants and in the long run, society.
-Autonomy: Every woman should have the opportunity to: have a healthy and joyous birth experience; give birth as she wishes; have access to the full range of options for pregnancy, birth and the nurturance of her baby; receive accurate and up to date information about the benefits and risks of all procedures during the childbearing year, with the right to informed consent; receive support for making informed choices.
-Do No Harm: Interventions should not be applied routinely during the childbearing year; medical treatments should be evidence-based.
-Responsibility: Each caregiver is responsible for the quality of care given; care should be based on the needs of the mother and child; hospitals and birth centers are responsible for periodic review and evaluation based on current scientific evidence; society is responsible for ensuring access to quality maternity services for all women; individuals are ultimately responsible for making informed choices about the healthcare they and their babies receive.
(For the full version of the Initiative, check the website at http://www.healthy.net/cims Be sure to read the sidebar entitled Help Circulate This Initiative. To obtain paper copies of the Initiative, write to CIMS at 2120 L Street, Suite 1202, Washington, DC 20036 to request that a copy be mailed or faxed to you. Please include $3 US to defray costs ($4 Canada/Mexico, $5 all others).
Ten Questions
CIMS has produced a very effective brochure entitled What to Ask When Deciding Where to Have Your Baby. It lists ten questions to ask if you are going to have a baby, and provides information about the issues the questions raise. The questions are stated in values-neutral wording to not antagonize mother-unfriendly birthing services. The text that accompanies the questions is brief and to the point, clear, and potentially very empowering. The Ten Questions are:
1. Who can be with me during labor and birth?
2. What happens during a normal labor and birth in your setting?
3. How do you allow for differences in culture and beliefs?
4. Can I walk and move around during labor?
5. How do you make sure everything goes smoothly when my nurse, doctor, midwife or agency need to work with each other?
6. What things do you normally do to a woman in labor?
7. How do you help mothers stay as comfortable as they can be? Besides drugs, how do you help mothers relieve the pain of labor?
8. What if my baby is born early or has special problems?
9. Do you circumcise baby boys?
10. How do you help mothers who want to breastfeed?
For a copy of the brochure together with the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative, send $3 US ($4 Canada/Mexico, $5 all other) to CIMS, 2120 L St. NW, S-400, Washington, DC 20037.
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 1 Issue 19, May 7, 1999)
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