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:This session refers to the following MFCI Steps and Principles:
Principles
Steps
Step 4. Provides the birthing woman with the freedom to walk, move about, and assume the positions of her choice during labor and birth (unless restriction is specifically required to correct a complication), and discourages the use of the lithotomy (flat on back with legs elevated) position.
Step 5. Has clearly defined policies and procedures for:
Step 6. Does not routinely employ practices and procedures that are unsupported by scientific evidence, including but not limited to the following:
other interventions are limited as follows:
This session refers to the following conference themes:
In this session, participants will learn how by adhering to ethical and evidenced based standards we can reestablish the normalcy of the human birth process. The presenter will review how the idea of beneficence does include respect by the practitioner for the well informed pregnant woman's reasonable choices. Models of collaboration between home and hospital, midwife and physician for smooth transition of care will be discussed. The goal of this presentation is to assist the participants with evidence to build a case to improve the relationships between care providers in their own communities and so honor the pregnant woman.