From Dialogue to Action – Keeping the Momentum
At the first Summit, delegates agreed that healthy women with healthy pregnancies who desire a planned home birth should be able to access a maternity care professional within an organized system that provides transfer to hospital-based services when needed. Delegates also explored the complexity and dangers of respecting a woman’s choice when her desires conflict with evidence-based maternity care or community standards. They noted that we must achieve better consensus regarding maternal and fetal risks and benefits of planned home birth, site selection criteria, and essential qualifications for maternal newborn providers in all settings. Progress in this area will require stakeholders with historically opposing views to collaborate throughout the development and implementation of innovative strategies for interprofessional communication and consultation.
Summit delegates continue to work together collaborating on follow-up initiatives that include multidisciplinary projects related to improving transport protocols, enhancing access to Medicaid coverage across maternity care settings, developing birth place decision aides for women, home birth data collection and research, and development of curricula to expose all maternity professionals to all settings and types of providers.
Although interested participants are welcome, please be advised that roles will be varied from active meeting participants to occasional consultants to achieve the task force’s goals. If you would like to participate in a Task Force, contact us at info @ homebirthsummit.org