Coalition for Improving Maternity Services Holds A Directors' Meeting in Rancho Palos Verdes, California
The Board of Directors of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) and CIMS Council members will hold their mid-year strategic planning meeting in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, August 20th to August 22nd. CIMS, an international, non-profit, volunteer organization and United Nations recognized NGO was formed in 1996 as a collaborative effort among a broad spectrum of maternity service providers. The participants came together to jointly address serious, systemic problems in the delivery of maternity care in the U. S.
Oard of Directors of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (PRWEB) August 4, 2004 -
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL The Byear strategic planning meeting in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, August 20th to August 22nd. CIMS, an international, non-profit, volunteer organization and United Nations recognized NGO was formed in 1996 as a collaborative effort among a broad spectrum of maternity service providers. The participants came together to jointly address serious, systemic problems in the delivery of maternity care in the U. S.
Citing one example, Nicette Jukelevics, Co-Chair of the Coalition stated: "In the U. S., more than 1 in 4 women give birth by cesarean section, many more than actually need such surgery. "Studies show that these unnecessary operations threaten the health and well-being of childbearing women and their babies. Women run 4 to 7 times the risk of death from the cesarean surgery itself compared with vaginal birth. Healthy babies born by elective cesarean are 5 times more likely to require assistance with breathing and 5 times more likely to be admitted to intermediate or intensive care."
The coalition includes midwives, nurses, childbirth educators, labor support providers, postpartum doulas, and lactation consultants as well as other maternity care organizations and many individuals prominent in the field. CIMS drafted the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI), a set of evidence-based guidelines that describes the elements of safe, effective, satisfying, and cost-effective maternity care and lay out a blueprint for change. More than 50 organizations and prominent individuals representing over 90,000 members have endorsed the MFCI.
CIMS is considered a valued and trusted partner by national and international organizations dedicated to improving the quality of maternity care. CIMS, a member of the US Breastfeeding Practices Committee is included as a National-Level Breastfeeding Coalition by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion website. The World Health Organization has recently incorporated the key principles of the MFCI in their publication, Infant and Young Child Feeding: A tool for assessing national practices, policies, and programmes (2003) .
Mother-friendly birth services provide access to care regardless of ability to pay and discourage the use of unnecessary medical interventions. They give women accurate information to help them make informed decisions and respect women's rights to give informed consent and informed refusal to medical procedures. Mother-Friendly services also qualify as "Baby-Friendly" according to the World Health organization's infant feeding guidelines.
CIMS is in step with emerging national recommendations to improve the quality of US health care. A recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the US Health Care Delivery System stated that reform and reorganization were urgently needed to fix "what is now a disjointed and inefficient system." The IOM recommended a system centered on the needs, preferences, and values of patients, informed decision-making and care based on the best available scientific knowledge (evidence-based medicine) that does not "vary illogically from clinician to clinician or from place to place."
To welcome CIMS to the community, the Doulas of the South Bay will be co-hosting a Wine & Cheese event for maternity care professionals on Thursday, August 19th from 7pm to 9 pm in Rancho Palos Verdes.
For further information or to schedule interviews visit www. motherfriendly. org or call
1-888-282-CIMS.
Contact: Rae Davies, Executive Director
Fax: 904-285-2120
Phone: 1(888)282-2467
E-mail: cimshome@bellsouth. net
Website:www. motherfriendly. org
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