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Why Dialogue Was NeededRates of planned
home birth in the US have remained low for several
decades, but women are increasing their interest in
this option. Women today want and expect choices for
childbirth without compromising quality of care. Choice
of birth site - home, hospital, or birth center - is
not an option for many expectant mothers in the United
States.
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Safety of birth in any setting is of utmost priority. Maternity
care providers and researchers in the US disagree about appropriate
settings for birth. Ultimately, women and families are ill-served
by inter-professional conflict. The current debate on home birth in
the US indicates the need for constructive discussion and
consensus-building. Successful collaboration between health
professionals has been found to result in improved experience and
outcomes for consumers.
The meeting was organized in a way that is most likely to
foster the dialogue needed to find common ground and spark
constructive action that will ultimately benefit all stakeholder
groups. This summit encouraged dialogue among health care
professionals, consumers, policy makers, and other leaders from
disciplines that support maternity care, with the shared goal of
identifying a common agenda for the provision of birth services in
the United States.
The point was not to debate the rightness or wrongness of
homebirth. The goal was to establish what the whole system can do
to support those who choose homebirth, and provide the care, safety
net, consultation, collaboration and referral necessary to make
homebirth the safest and most positive experience for all
involved moms, babies, families, communities, health care workers,
hospital personnel, administrators, payors, and so on.
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