As an alternative to the mainstream medicalization of childbirth, which historically defines pregnancy as an abnormal physical condition and posits the laboring woman as a passive patient in need of control, assistance and repair, the homebirth movement offers a familyor community-centered approach to childbirth. The primary goal of honoring and empowering the laboring woman is argued by homebi...

Baby-FriendlyTM hospitals give mothers and babies the best start in feeding their babies. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) began in 1991 as a joint program of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. It was created to honor hospitals and birth centers that give the best care to mothers and babies related to infant feeding. To be certified Baby-Friendly, hospitals and birth ce...

OBJECTIVES To assess the feasibility of undertaking an adequately powered multicentre study comparing waterbirth with land birth. To assess whether women are willing to participate in such a trial and whether participation has a negative effect on their birthing experience. DESIGN A randomised controlled trial (RCT) with 'preference arm'. SETTING District general hospital with 3600 deliveri...

Skin-to-skin care (SSC) and rooming-in have become common practice in the newborn period for healthy newborns with the implementation of maternity care practices that support breastfeeding as delineated in the World Health Organization's "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding." SSC and rooming-in are supported by evidence that indicates that the implementation of these practices increases overa...

BACKGROUND Women are more vulnerable than men in the same natural disaster setting. Preexisting gender inequality, socio-cultural community dynamics and poverty puts women at significant risk of mortality. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable because of their limited or no access to prenatal and obstetric care during any disaster or humanitarian emergency setting. METHODS In-depth inter...

Background. On 8 November 2013, supertyphoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines, severely disrupting health service delivery. Reestablishment of essential services for birthing mothers and their newborns became high priority. Methodology. Following a baseline assessment, an Essential Intrapartum and Newborn Care (EINC) training package was implemented and posttraining assessments (1 and 3 ...

This study analyzes two birth cohort surveys, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (n=3944) and Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (n=7700), to examine variation in maternal depression by nativity, duration of residence, age at migration, and English proficiency in Australia and the United States. Both countries have long immigrant traditions and a common language. The results demonstr...