Basic Principles of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative
- Women’s and children’s rights are human rights.
- Access to humane and effective healthcare is a basic human right.
- The mother and baby constitute an integral unit during pregnancy, birth, and infancy (referred to herein as the “MotherBaby”*) and should be treated as such, as the care of one significantly impacts on the care of the other.
- Maternity services are essential aspects of healthcare and should be fully funded, staffed, supplied, and freely available to every woman regardless of citizenship or social status.
- Consideration and respect for every woman should be the foundation of all maternity care.
- Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum/newborn care should be individualized. The needs of the MotherBaby should take precedence over the needs of caregivers, institutions, and the medical industry.
- Pregnancy, labour, birth, and breastfeeding are normal and healthy processes that in most cases need only attention and support from caregivers. Current evidence demonstrates the safety and superior outcomes of this approach.
- Women should receive full, accurate, and unbiased information based on the best available evidence about the harms, benefits, and alternatives so that they can make an informed decision about their care and their babies’ care.
- Birth practices affect the MotherBaby physiologically and psychologically. A woman’s confidence and ability to give birth, care for, and breastfeed her baby and the baby’s ability to feed effectively can be enhanced or diminished by every person who gives them care and by the birth environment.
- Each caregiver is individually responsible to the mother, family, community, and healthcare system, and the quality of care he or she provides.
- Establishing a caring atmosphere, listening to the mother, encouraging her self-expression, and respecting her privacy are essential aspects of optimal maternity care.
- Midwives, who are the primary care providers for millions of birthing women in most countries, have developed a model of care based on the normal physiology, sociology, and psychology of pregnancy, labour, birth, and the postpartum period. The International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative draws on the midwifery model of care and affirms that midwifery knowledge, skills, and behavior are essential for optimal MotherBaby care.
- Continuity of care and sensitivity to the mother’s cultural, religious, and individual beliefs and values reduce the risk of psychological trauma and enhance women’s trust in their caregivers, their experience of childbearing, and their willingness to accept care and to seek care in the future.
- When culturally appropriate, the father’s presence at birth can have positive effects on the family, his parenting, and his respect for the mother.
- Many women can safely give birth outside of hospitals in clinics, birth centers, and homes when skilled care and effective referral are available. Women, including those with prior caesareans, babies in breech positions, and twins, should be accurately informed about the harms and benefits of vaginal and caesarean birth in all available settings and with available providers.
- All maternity services should comply with the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
- Emergency care, while essential, is not the sole solution to reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. These problems must also be addressed at their sources through measures designed to prevent illness and promote wellness, and to empower women.
- This MotherBaby Model of Care promotes the health and wellbeing of all women and babies during pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding, setting the gold standard for excellence and superior outcomes in maternity care. All maternity service providers should be educated in, provide, and support this MotherBaby Model of Care.