A Focus on Physiologic Birth

Introduction

Increasing access to care that promotes and supports physiologic birth is a major national strategy for achieving high-quality, high-value maternity care.1 A major focus of this national effort is engaging consumers and professionals in efforts to promote full-term physiologic childbirth. Tools and resources to promote physiologic birth are necessary to assist maternity care clinicians in supporting physiologic approaches to care. The American College of Nurse-Midwives, Midwives Alliance of North America, and National Association of Certified Professional Midwives issued a consensus statement that identified practices and policies consistent with supporting physiologic approaches to childbirth.2 In 2014, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine promoted evidence-based approaches to safely avoid primary cesarean births.3 The approaches outlined in this obstetric care consensus statement echoed many of the practices and approaches previously identified by midwifery organizations. Overall, maternity care professionals are collaborating and prioritizing improved, evidence-based approaches to achieving safe, high quality, high value maternity care for women, newborns, and families through a focus on physiologic birth.4

Read more about about the value of promoting approaches to care that support healthy, physiologic childbirth here:



References:

  1. Transforming Maternity Care Vision Team, Carter MC, Cory M, et al. 2020 vision for a high quality, high value maternity care system. Womens Health Issues. 2010; 20 (suppl. 1):s7-s17

  2. American College of Nurse-Midwives, Midwives Alliance of North America, National Association of Certified Professional Midwives. Supporting healthy and normal physiologic childbirth: a consensus statement by ACNM, MANA, and NACPM. http://mana.org/pdfs/Physiological-Birth-Consensus-Statement.pdf. Published May 14, 2012. Accessed March 2, 2014.

  3. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Obstetric care consensus: safe prevention of the primary cesarean delivery. http://www.acog.org/Resources_And_Publications/Obstetric_Care_Consensus_Series/Safe_Prevention_of_the_Primary_Cesarean_Delivery. Published March, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.

  4. National Quality Forum. Patient safety collaboration. http://www.qualityforum.org/Setting_Priorities/NPP/NPP_Action_Teams.aspx. Accessed March 2, 2014.

 






 

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