A Review of the 2009 Mother-Friendly Forum

On March 5-7, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) held its annual meeting in San Diego, California. Its long list of presenters, included the following: Henci Goer, the author of The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth; Maureen Corry, the Executive Director of the Childbirth Connection, and Debra Pascali-Bonaro, the filmmaker for the award-winning Orgasmic Birth.

The entire conference was energizing and illuminating, and I believe that the participants were at least as wonderful to meet, as the speakers were to hear. However, I would like to highlight three plenary session speakers. First, Dr. Michael Lu, UCLA Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, spoke about racial and ethical disparities in birth outcomes. Even in a room filled with experts on birth, Dr. Lu broke down stereotypes about causes of premature birth, showing that the major cause in the African-American community is not smoking, education, or nutrition, but stress. Second, Dr. Laurence M. Grummer-Strawn, Chief of the Nutrition Branch at the Center for Disease Control (CDC), shared the results from a first-ever comprehensive, nationwide survey of hospitals and birth centers on breastfeeding trends. Although the facility-level results are not public, Dr. Grummer-Strawn, hopes that the information will help each facility improve its own outcomes. Third, Mayri Sagady Leslie, Georgetown Faculty in its School of Nursing & Health Studies, led an open forum where everyone in the audience had individual remotes to respond to her polling questions. The audience-response system generated significant buzz during and after her session; it both allowed audience members to better understand our colleagues' experiences, and it allowed CIMS to gather important data for future conferences.

Last but not least, I would like to share a small portion of the presentation I gave with two of my colleagues in the Opening Ceremony of the Forum. The absolute best part of the 2009 CIMS Forum was co-presenting my work with The Birth Survey, a national online, ongoing survey of new moms about their specific prenatal providers and birth settings. Since it's recent nationwide launch, The Birth Survey already has 15,000 surveys started by new moms! Although this sample may not be representative of the 4 million births in the United States yet, The Birth Survey expects the number of surveys to increase exponentially once The Birth Survey reaches a tipping point. For now, however, from the moms who have submitted a survey, The Birth Survey was able to share some preliminary results that were not yet public! It received an extraordinarily positive response from CIMS Forum participants, who are anxious to hear more from The Birth Survey at next year's Forum in Austin, Texas. To participate in The Birth Survey or to view the results from the Survey, please visit http://www.thebirthsurvey.com.

This sampling just barely etches the surface of the buzz around reproductive rights in birth. Larger organizations, including the National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF) and the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), as well as the National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) have started to expand their work into this area, as reproductive justice advocates become more concerned with the treatment of pregnant, laboring, and breastfeeding mothers.