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Needs of Healthy Childbearing WomenWhat proportion of pregnant women are at low risk for problems? What are the needs of healthy childbearing women? What kind of maternity care is appropriate for healthy women and infants? Why should healthy childbearing women avoid routine interventions? What proportion of pregnant women are at low risk for problems?In healthy women, pregnancy and birth are often treated as medical conditions or disease states, rather than normal life processes. The great majority of pregnant women in the U.S. are well and healthy. As such, they can expect to have an uncomplicated birth and healthy newborn. Healthy People 2010 describes health goals for the nation. According to the Healthy People definition, fully 85 percent of pregnant U.S. women — nearly 3 1/2 million woman every year — enter labor at "low risk" for problems. These women, together with their infants and other family members, have distinct health and social needs.Many programs address the important health and social needs of the smaller proportion of women and infants who have medical problems or are at high risk for problems, but limited attention is given to meeting needs and ensuring appropriate care for the millions of well childbearing women and infants every year. Childbirth Connection and this website address the needs of this group. What are the needs of healthy childbearing women?While their medical needs are limited, healthy women can benefit greatly from information and other support to help them maintain and enhance their health. Attentive care and reliable information can help women understand what is happening to their bodies and identify and address any concerns that arise. The transition to parenthood is a major life change, and many parents welcome and benefit from guidance and support at this time. Finally, good information and support can help women make informed decisions about maternity care.What kind of maternity care is appropriate for healthy women and infants?Pregnancy, labor and birth, and bodily changes just after birth involve innate processes that are regulated by powerful hormones. When we support these processes and avoid interfering with them, they happen on their own for most women. It is important that healthy women find caregivers and places for giving birth that understand, respect, and work with these inborn processes.Maternity care that is supportive and respectful, and that reflects the best available research about safe and effective care, contributes to the following desired outcomes of maternity care:
Why should healthy childbearing women avoid routine interventions?Many hospitals and health professionals use maternity interventions liberally or even routinely, even when women don't have a clear need. This may happen because this has become standard practice in that community, because it was what professionals learned as students, or for other reasons. The national Listening to Mothers survey found high rates of intervention among women giving birth in U.S. hospitals. Examples of commonly used interventions include: inducing labor, electronic fetal monitoring, giving intravenous fluids, and cutting an episiotomy. Women themselves may request interventions that are not medically needed, such as labor induction for convenient scheduling.Although selected women in specific situations may benefit from such maternity interventions, the best research finds that many interventions do not offer benefits to healthy women but do increase their risk for side effects. If there is no clear, well-supported justification for use, it is wise to avoid interventions because they may:
The chain of unintended effects of maternity interventions has been called a "cascade of intervention." Many women feel that their bodies have failed them, and are unaware that things that have gone wrong were triggered by maternity practices themselves. Use of unnecessary interventions compromises the quality of maternity care and wastes resources of the employers, governments and families who pay for this care. Most recent page update: 2/28/2006
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Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families. |
News and Features
"2020 Vision" and "Blueprint for Action" Reports Available
Rising Maternal Mortality
Maternity Care Fact Sheet Available
US Cochrane Center (USCC)/Consumers United for Evidence-based Healthcare (CUE) Maternity Care, a Major Segment of Health Industry, Must Be Overhauled for Health Care Reform to Succeed
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.View 2009 Supporter Roster  New Mothers Speak Out National Report Released The latest report in Childbirth Connection's Listening to Mothers series is now available. Get an eye-opening look at the reality of life as a mother of young children in the United States, based on national surveys conducted by Harris Interactive. Learn more, get the report  Read the Wall Street Journal story and listen to the podcast Download Quick Facts (PDF) New Content!
 Journey to Parenthood Full Book Available Online! A family-friendly book covering the trimesters, pregnancy resources, and the latest information on baby's first year of development. Available online (free) and for purchase in the Bookstore. Browse through Journey to Parenthood  Buy this book and learn more
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"Being a mother is the best thing in the world and there are no words to describe the joy of having a child."
Every woman has the right to receive maternity care that is appropriate to her cultural and religious background, and to receive information in a language in which she can communicate.
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