Home Birth Consensus Summit
October 20-22, 2011
Airlee Center, Warrenton VA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Saraswathi Vedam
Tel. 604-827-0553
Cell 778-886-6767
Email homebirthsummit@gmail.com
Historic Summit Brings Together National, International Experts to
Address
Home Birth Policy in the U.S.
Group Releases Nine Statements of Common Ground
November 2, 2011—Nine statements of common ground around home birth and other controversies in maternity care were released today by a group of sixty-eight national and international experts who participated in the historic Home Birth Consensus Summit in Warrenton, Virginia, from October 20-22.
Although many of the participants represented stakeholders who have long been on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to the practice of delivering at home or in a freestanding birth center, the group was able to reach agreement on core sets of principles and to forge a shared commitment to quality maternity care for women and their babies in all birth settings.
“When you have an issue as controversial as home birth, there are always going to be differences of opinion among various types of providers, policy-makers and even among consumers,” said Professor Saraswathi Vedam, Chair of the Home Birth Consensus Summit Steering Committee. “But all of us recognize that for women who choose home birth, it's our shared responsibility to work toward policies that will make that choice as safe as possible.”
In addition to practitioners and consumers, Summit participants included insurers, attorneys, ethicists, administrators, policy makers, and researchers with expertise in epidemiology, public health, midwifery, obstetrics, pediatrics, nursing, sociology, medical anthropology, legal, and health policy research.
The diversity of experience and expertise among the participants was reflected in the nine statements released today, which coalesced around issues such as respecting women's decision-making during childbirth, regardless of their choice of birth setting, increasing collaboration and integration of care among all maternity care providers across all settings, and addressing the racial and economic inequities in our maternity care system.
The full text of each statement, along with the recommended action steps to begin implementing them, can be found here.
www.homebirthsummit.org
Homebirth Consensus Summit an Amazing Success!
A national summit of stakeholders and leaders met October 20-22, 2011 in Warrenton, VA to discuss the status of homebirth within the greater context of U.S. maternity care. The dialogue was held in good faith, was respectful, complex, and revealed multiple issues for future discussion and action.
Common ground was discovered across several areas of concern about maternity care in the United States. Statements reflecting shared commitments by delegates will be posted by November 1, 2011.
For me, this gathering was more powerful that I expected and more gratifying than I dared to hope in that we truly did find common ground. The conversations were passionate, authentic, complex, and incredibly insightful. Look for our consensus statement in a few weeks.
In solidarity,
Geradine Simkins, President
History
The Summit will convene a multidisciplinary group of key stakeholders to discuss improved integration of service across birth sites for all women and families in the United States. Strong multidisciplinary representation is critical to the success of this endeavor, and leaders from maternity care and consumer sectors have been actively engaged in planning this meeting. This summit will follow the Future Search Network meeting model to address the divergence between stakeholder groups related to planned home birth. Future Search is internationally known for brokering lasting agreements and shared initiatives in highly volatile and polarized settings, around a variety of issues related to poverty, health care access, regional and ethnic conflict, and education.
The Steering Committee includes Presidents, Executive Vice Presidents, Board members, and leaders from ACNM, ACOG, MANA, NACPM, Lamaze, Our Bodies Ourselves, AWHONN, ICTC, and AAP. Members from APHA, Childbirth Connection, the White Ribbon Alliance, and AAFP, and many key consumer advocates, as well as consumer representatives will be delegates. The President of FIGO, Jane Sandall from the UK, and a researcher from the Netherlands will be delegates, as well as key policy makers. All invited delegates have been selected for their authority, expertise, resources, information, or need.
The initial planning meeting for this summit identified nine stakeholder groups:
- Home Birth Consumers and Potential Consumers
- Consumer Advocates (including doulas, childbirth educators, women’s health care activists)
- Home birth Midwives (CNM, CPM, LM, Amish, Traditional,etc)
- Maternal-Child Health Collaborating Providers (pediatrics, L&D nursing, neonatal nurses and physicians, CNMs who receive referrals)
- Obstetricians and Family Practice Obstetrics
- Health Care Models, Systems, and Administrators
- Payors and Liability Insurers
- Health Policy, Legislators, Regulators, and Ethicists
- Public Health, Research, and Education
We now have confirmed 68 delegates who are leaders in all of these groups.
You can visit the website www.homebirthsummit.org to get more detailed information about specific delegates and the Future Search process.
Home :: Site Map :: Contact :: Join :: What is MANA?
News :: Definitions :: Conferences :: Resources :: For Students :: Links
View Members Only Section :: Related Organizations
|
