Complimentary Initiatives
International initiatives that seek to remedy global problems in maternal and child health include the Safe Motherhood Initiative, Making Pregnancy Safer, the International Initiative for Maternal Mortality and Human Rights, and the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding. They also include the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, both of which were reaffirmed by the 2005 Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion, and Support of Breastfeeding and endorsed by the 2006 World Health Assembly.
To these efforts, the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI) adds a vital emphasis on the quality of the mother’s birth experience and its impact on the short- and long-term health of the mother, baby, and family. The IMBCI focuses on the scientific evidence showing the benefits of MotherBaby-centered care based on the normal physiology of pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding and the risks of inappropriate medical interventions, and on the importance of attention to women’s individual needs. The IMBCI complements pre-existing maternal and infant survival and breastfeeding support efforts (including recent Mother-friendly additions to the BFHI), emphasizing the need for the continuum of humanistic care proven necessary for the best outcomes. The IMBCI originated from the work of the International Committee of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) and continues at a global level the work begun in 1996 by the CIMS Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative in the United States, which focuses on facilitating normal birth, avoiding unnecessary interventions, and supporting breastfeeding. Please read the BFHI-IMBCI Fact Sheet.
International initiatives that seek to remedy global problems in maternal and child health include the Safe Motherhood Initiative, Making Pregnancy Safer, the International Initiative for Maternal Mortality and Human Rights, and the Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding. They also include the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, both of which were reaffirmed by the 2005 Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion, and Support of Breastfeeding and endorsed by the 2006 World Health Assembly.
To these efforts, the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative (IMBCI) adds a vital emphasis on the quality of the mother’s birth experience and its impact on the short- and long-term health of the mother, baby, and family. The IMBCI focuses on the scientific evidence showing the benefits of MotherBaby-centered care based on the normal physiology of pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding and the risks of inappropriate medical interventions, and on the importance of attention to women’s individual needs. The IMBCI complements pre-existing maternal and infant survival and breastfeeding support efforts (including recent Mother-friendly additions to the BFHI), emphasizing the need for the continuum of humanistic care proven necessary for the best outcomes. The IMBCI originated from the work of the International Committee of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) and continues at a global level the work begun in 1996 by the CIMS Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative in the United States, which focuses on facilitating normal birth, avoiding unnecessary interventions, and supporting breastfeeding. Please read the BFHI-IMBCI Fact Sheet.
Adminstrative Director, Rae Davies. Email: [email protected] Phone (USA EST): 904-285-0028