Purpose of the Symposium
1) Discuss the benefits of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI) for hospitals, clinics, mothers, infants, and clinicians
2) Provide a forum for discussion among nurses, doctors, doulas, childbirth educators, midwives, administrators and others on the challenges and opportunities of implementing mother-friendly care in the clinical or hospital setting.
3) Provide a forum for dissemination of evidence-based best practices for maternity care.
4) Support clinics, hospitals and community-based programs in developing plans of action to shift the thinking in their organizations towards mother-friendly care and develop multidisciplinary coordinated networks of maternity care providers.
5) Practitioners and students of maternity care will obtain an objective understanding of the collision of worldviews and belief systems when the medical and midwifery models of maternity care intersect.
6) Participants will describe how the perinatal community as a whole can best collaborate to provide optimal care for mothers and infants based on the principals of the MFCI and the evidence-based practices available as outlined in the 10 steps of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI).
Principles of the MFCI are:MFCI Step this session refers to:
Principles
Steps
Step 1. Offers all birthing mothers:
Step 3.
Provides culturally competent care—that is, care that is sensitive and responsive to the specific beliefs, values, and customs of the mother’s ethnicity and religion.
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For a description of MFCI principles and steps, go to: http://wholisticmaternalnewbornhealth.org/cims-mfci-principles-steps/
This session refers to conference themes of:
Doula Care in NYC: Advancing the Goals of the Affordable Care Act which uses the framework of the Affordable Care Act’s “triple aim” to present information on how doula support:
The report highlights how doula care can reduce disparities and improve patient engagement in health care decision-making.
CONTEXT:
Overview of Maternal Health in the US, including:
Bottom Line: doula care is an evidence-based service that improves maternal and infant heath outcomes.
Following this, a panel discussion with MCH experts and Birth Workers of Color will ensue. The purpose of this session is to facilitate meaningful dialogue within the childbirth reform movement about racial and social inequities and multiculturaliim using compassionate and respectful communication.