Millbank Report on Evidence-Based Maternity Care

What an exciting time in maternity care. The release of a new report,

Evidence-Based Maternity Care: What It Is and What It Can

Achieve, by authors Carol Sakala and Maureen Corry, at

Childbirth Connection,  provides insights and recommendations to improve U.S. birth practices.

The entire 128-page report is on the Childbirth Connection

Website, free! Please read it!  It is a must read for anyone who cares or is involved with maternity care.  The data and recommendations are too strong to continue to ignore.  NO other field of medicine has such a gap between what we know from science and evidence to what we practice.  We can no longer allow mother’s and babies to be subject to practices that cause harm or put them at risk both in the short and long term from physical and/or emotional risks.

The report takes stock of the U.S. maternity care system.  Identifies many opportunities for improving the quality, outcomes, and value of maternity care, and presents policy recommendations.  It was developed through collaboration among Childbirth Connection, the Reforming States Group, and the Milbank Memorial Fund.

For access to the report, please go to

http://www.childbirthconnection.org/ebmc/

 (this appears within a new section  Maternity Quality Matters, at

 http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ClickedLink=919&c\k=10576&area=27

The report was covered in two articles in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-08-childbirth-fixes_n\.htm 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-10-08-childbirth-costs_n\.htm

Consumer Reports also posted an article and a quiz:

http://www.consumerreports.org/health/medical-conditions-treatmen\

ts/pregnancy-childbirth/maternity-care/overview/maternity-care.ht\m

http://www.consumerreports.org/health/medical-conditions-treatmen\

ts/pregnancy-childbirth/maternity-care/maternity-care-quiz/matern\ity-care-quiz.htm