231536 Increasing transparency in maternity care through the Birth Survey Project

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 11:06 AM - 11:18 AM

Elan McAllister , Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, The Birth Survey Project, Raleigh, NC
  
The Birth Survey Project gathers and disseminates maternity care intervention rates for institutions which are recorded from birth certificates and compiled by state health departments. The goal of the Project is to increase dissemination of birth experience data based on results generated by an online mother-friendly (the birth survey) consumer survey. The Birth Survey Project empowers birthing women by 1) facilitating women's abilities to compare providers using consumer feedback data from other women in their community, 2) facilitating women's abilities to compare between local hospitals and birth centers using consumer feedback data and officially reported intervention rates, 3) providing additional information on what care practices support normal birth, and 4) providing comparison information on the MFCI and evidence-based care.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Epidemiology
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe why transparency in health care and specifically maternity care is needed. 2. Describe efforts to increase transparency in health care. 3. List the objectives of The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services Transparency in Maternity Care: The Birth Survey Project. 4. Identify ways consumers, activists, and educators can utilize the information on www.thebirthsurvey.com to empower women’s decision making and identify ways consumers, educators and activist can encourage new mothers to access The Birth Survey project’s information.

Keywords: Birth Outcomes, Maternal Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I founded Choice in Childbirth which has spearheaded access to birth data in NY. I am also a birth activist and founding member of the CIMS Transparency project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3096.0: Perinatal justice: Promoting the health and humanity of pregnant women