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Most women have very little experience with the health care system before becoming pregnant. Unless you have had a serious or chronic illness before, your experience accessing health care is probably limited to occasional health check-ups and visits to a health care provider when you are sick or have other concerns. For many women, their first experience being hospitalized is for childbirth.

The U.S. health care system is complex and, unfortunately, has major problems that can sometimes make people sicker rather than healthier. The maternity care system is no exception. Getting excellent care and having a safe, healthy, and satisfying pregnancy and birth experience can be challenging. It is much more likely when you know your maternity care options and participate actively in all aspects of your care and your baby’s care.

This section of the website provides the basic information women need to make sense of our maternity care system and learn how to navigate it to achieve a healthy and safe birth.  
  • Why Maternity Quality Matters provides an overview of the problems in our maternity care system and how we can better measure and improve maternity care quality.
  • Needs of Healthy Childbearing Women summarizes the best approach to care of healthy women at low risk of complications. 
  • Hormones Driving Labor and Birth gives an overview of the normal physiology of labor and birth and explains why maternity care practices should support and facilitate normal physiology whenever possible.
  • Cascade of Intervention explains how interventions in pregnancy, labor, and birth can lead to more interventions, increasing the complexity, risk, and cost of care.
  • Evidence-Based Maternity Care explains how research can guide practice to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies.
  • Informed Decision Making offers information about how to make good choices by considering the best available research, your own preferences and values, and your caregivers' recommendations. The section also reviews your legal rights to informed consent and informed refusal.
  • Resources provides links to more information from Childbirth Connection and other sources.



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Why Maternity Care Quality Matters
Most recent page update: 11/2/2012
© 2013 Childbirth Connection. All rights reserved.

Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality and value of maternity care through consumer engagement and health system transformation. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families.
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Listening to MothersSM III is the third national survey exploring women’s experiences in pregnancy and childbirth. Commissioned by Childbirth Connection, conducted by Harris Interactive, and funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the survey polled 2,400 women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals from 2011 to 2012. Results show that medically intensive experiences are typical, and evidence-based practices are underutilized. Childbearing women need better support and knowledge to navigate their maternity care.
Access the full report and supplementary materials

New Report: Maternity Care and Liability
Go to report and supporting materials

New Report: The Cost of Having a Baby in the United States
Go to report and supporting materials

New Cesarean Resources:
Go to Best Evidence Report
Go to web pages and booklet for women

 
For 95 years, Childbirth Connection has been dedicated to improving the quality and value of maternity care for all women and their families. Learn more about our rich history through our interactive timeline and give $95 for 95 in honor of our 95th birthday.
 
Childbirth Connection works to ensure that all women and babies get the best possible maternity care. We have the collective vision and we know how to get there, but we can't do it alone. Join the transformation today.

 
The Transforming Maternity Care website focuses on maternity care system improvements designed to engage diverse stakeholders in quality improvement efforts. The site offers full access to the landmark reports 2020 Vision and Blueprint for Action, features a Blog, and other resources such as an Action Center, a database of quality improvement projects, an interactive data center, and many more tools for advocates and stakeholders.

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Help Transform Maternity Care! Please join our efforts to make quality maternity care a top national priority. Your support will help make the transformation possible.