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 To you and your families, we extend our very best wishes this holiday season and for the New Year. Thank you for your support and for being a vital part of the Mother-Friendly childbirth community.
~The CIMS Leadership Team |
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The 2010 CIMS Forum is right around the corner. Register today!
Join us in Austin, Texas, Feb. 26-27.
Registration is now open for the 2010 CIMS Forum, and this is one great conference that you can't afford to miss! Expert presenters will speak on the recent significant developments made at the national and state policy levels to advance Mother-Friendly Care. The Program also features sessions that will provide the hands-on skills you need to improve birth outcomes for the women in your care. Register by Jan. 29, to take advantage of reduced early bird rates.
Can't make it to Austin? You can increase the impact that this conference will have on the future of childbirth by donating your unwanted airline miles or by making a financial contribution to the CIMS Forum Scholarship Fund. Support the attendance of fellow childbirth advocates with economic hardships by donating today.
Highlights of the 2010 CIMS Forum Program include:
2010 Sharron S. Humenick Award Keynote Speaker
Ricki Lake
Acclaimed actress, filmmaker, family advocate and author Ricki Lake will accept the prestigious Sharon S. Humenick Award. Lake, an integral figure in the birthing community since the 2007 debut of the documentary The Business of Being Born and subsequent projects ("Your Best Birth" book and MyBestBirth.com website), encourages childbearing women to become informed maternity care consumers. She has traveled tirelessly around the U.S. and abroad to discuss the state of the birthing "industry" in an effort to demonstrate how all parents-to-be can benefit from taking a more active role in their birth experiences.
20/20 Vision for a High Quality, High Value Maternity Care System: Looking Forward with a Shared Perspective
R. Rima Jolivet, CNM, MSN, MPH, Associate Director of Programs, Childbirth Connection
With introduction by Childbirth Connection's Executive Director Maureen Corry, MPH.
Following the much heralded "Transforming Maternity Care: A High Value Proposition" Symposium of April 2009, for which Jolivet was the Project Director, a Blueprint for Action was developed to provide priority recommendations for the long-term future of maternity care in the U.S. Be the first to hear the vision of leaders from across the maternity care spectrum in this timely message about true maternity care reform.
Eco-Friendly Birth: Troubling Downstream Effects of Common Obstetrical Practices & How to Reduce Them
Penny Simkin, PT, Author, Childbirth Educator, Doula, and Birth Counselor
Explore the effects of today's birth practices on the baby's first habitat-the uterus-and his or her next habitat-the mother's body and breasts. Understand the link between the latest research findings on the long-term implications of common birth interventions and the resiliency of mothers and babies.
A U.S. Perspective on Maternity Care: Where We Are Headed and How Our Direction Can Change
Nancy Lowe, CNM, PhD, FACNM, FAAN, Professor & Chair, Division of Women, Children, & Family Health, College of Nursing, University of Colorado Denver, and Editor of AWHONN's Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing
Are healthcare reform initiatives the window of opportunity for fundamental change? Discover how health care reform has the opportunity to shift childbirth back to a normal, physiologic event.
Up Against Powerful Ideologies: Challenges to Reforming Maternity Care in the U.S.
Judy Norsigian, BA, Author and Executive Director, Our Bodies Ourselves
Explore major obstacles to much needed policy changes in the U.S. that would enhance both birth outcomes and women's reproductive autonomy.
Pre-Conference: IMBCO International Day 2010
CIMS welcomes participants of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization's IMBCO International Day 2010 to the 2010 CIMS Forum. This pre-conference event will be held on Thursday, Feb. 25, and includes presentations by Hélène Vadeboncoeur, Mayri Sagady Leslie, and Debra Pascali-Bonaro. The IMBCO International Day will close with an International Bazaar (6 pm - 9 pm). Food and beverages will be served, and the event will feature items for sale by representatives of participating countries to support their attendance at the CIMS Forum. A $45 registration fee applies for full or partial IMBCO International Day participation.
Take Action:
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Mother-Friendly childbirth practices support achievement of Healthy People 2020 Goals
In October, CIMS Co-Chair Linda Herrick, RNC, BSN, CCE, CD(DONA), attended a Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2020 Public Meeting in Kansas City, MO, to present CIMS' official comments on the proposed Healthy People 2020 objectives. CIMS was one of several organizations, which also included the March of Dimes and the Maternal-Child Health Coalition of Kansas City, to comment on the proposed maternal-child health goals at the Oct. 22, 2009, meeting.
"The health of mothers, infants, and children is of critical importance, both as a reflection of the current health status of a large segment of the U.S. population and as a predictor of the next generation," stated Herrick.
CIMS entered into the public record its strong support for the continuation of the following Healthy People 2010 Maternal, Infant, and Child Health Objectives.
- MICH HP2020-3 (retain HP2010 objective 16-4) - Reduce maternal deaths.
- MICH HP2020-4 (retain HP2010 objective 16-5) - Reduce maternal illness and complications due to pregnancy (complications during hospitalized labor and delivery).
- MICH HP2020-5 (retain HP2010 objective 16-6) - Increase the proportion of pregnant women who receive early and
- adequate prenatal care.
- MICH HP2020-6 (retain HP2010 objective 16-9) - Reduce cesarean births among low-risk (full-term, singleton, vertex
- presentation) women.
- MICH HP2020-7 (retain HP2010 objective 16-10) - Reduce low birth weight (LBW) and very low birth weight (VLBW).
- MICH HP2020-8 (retain HP2010 objective 16-11) - Reduce preterm births.
- MICH HP2020-12 (retain HP2010 objective 16-22) - Increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their babies.
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| Abstract submissions due Jan. 8, for the Lamaze/ICEA 50th Anniversary Mega Conference
Lamaze International and the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA) are joining together to celebrate their 50-year anniversaries. The 50th Anniversary Mega Conference, Celebrating Our Pasts, Uniting for the Future of Birth, will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sept. 30 - Oct. 3, 2010.
Lamaze and ICEA invite childbirth educators, midwives, nurses, doulas, administrators, doctors, physical therapists, birth advocates, social workers, authors, researchers and lactation consultants to share their expertise by submitting an abstract for a conference and/or poster presentation for the 50th Anniversary Mega Conference.
Also of interest...
5th International Normal Labour & Birth Research Conference
Mark your calendars for the 5th International Normal Labour & Birth Research Conference. The conference, which has been held for the past four years in the United Kingdom, is now being rotated among host countries to ensure participation from the international midwifery community. In 2010, the conference will be held at Coast Coal Harbour Hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia, July 20-23. Conference sessions will focus on the following themes related to normal birth: Practice, Public Information, Education, and Policy. The call for abstracts has been extended until Friday, January 15. For more information, see
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End of Year Sales! Stock up now on these critical resources.
From Childbirth Connection: Get The Birth Atlas + The Growing Uterus Charts + 100 copies of The Rights of Childbearing Women brochure, a $150 value, packaged together for $50, including shipping within the U.S. E-mail info@childbirthconnection.org for ordering information.
From Birthing From Within: Get posters, greeting cards, gift certificates, and games atspecially reduced end-of-year prices. Visit Birthing From Within for complete details.
From CIMS: $50/case + Free Shipping for CIMS "Evidence Basis for the Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care", Journal of Perinatal Education, Winter 2007 Supplement, extended through Jan. 31, 2010. Please use our Order Form.
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For Expectant Families
What you need to know about your due date and late preterm birth
A little patience now adds up to long-term health benefits for your new baby.
You're not alone if you're secretly (or openly!) hoping that your baby will get here sooner rather than later. But when it comes to your due date, it's important to understand what it represents, what it does not represent, and the potentially serious consequences of agreeing to an induction or c-section before your baby is ready to be born.
Mayri Sagady Leslie, CNM, MSN, clinical faculty at Yale University School of Nursing, recently penned an insightful post for Lamaze International's Science and Sensibility blog. In "Beyond Due Dates: How Late is Too Late," we're reminded that, despite widespread belief that EDD stands for 'due date', it actually stands for 'estimated date of delivery'! Mayri writes, "No matter what you call that date on the calendar, it is nothing more than a formula derived from statistical averages which says that sometime within a range of 4-5 weeks your baby will probably be born. Smack dab in the middle of that range is one of days on which the labor may start. Yet when it comes to dates in our life, few take on more significance than this one."
Appreciating this fact is something of considerable consequence when it comes to the immediate and long-term health of your baby. There is mounting evidence that only the baby should have the right to choose her/his birthday. Two recent reports add to this evidence.
The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics recently reported a 20% increase in the nation's late preterm (34 to 36 weeks ) birth rate from 1990 to 2006. The report also cites alarming increases in the number of late preterm births among births for which labor was induced as well as among births that were delivered by c-section. The report cautions, "...it is becoming increasingly recognized that infants born late preterm are less healthy than infants born later in pregnancy. Late preterm babies are more likely than term babies to suffer complications at birth such as respiratory distress; to require intensive and prolonged hospitalization; to incur higher medical costs; to die within the first year of life; and to suffer brain injury that can result in long-term neurodevelopment problems."
 For the March of Dimes, prematurity is an extremely important public health issue. The March of Dimes launched a multimillion dollar, multiyear campaign in 2003 to prevent premature birth and raise awareness of its serious consequences. Last month, the March of Dimes released its annual Premature Birth Report Card. Sadly, for the second consecutive year, the U.S. earned only a 'D' grade, "demonstrating that more than half a million of our nation's newborns didn't get the healthy start they deserved."
We know you're anxious to meet your baby. It's perfectly understandable too if you're just plain tired of being pregnant. We just want to remind you that a little patience now adds up to long-term health benefits for your new baby.
Learn more:
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