Childbirth
Resource Brief
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access. Links to evidence reports and research findings about maternal health and pregnancy. Recent publications include
Hospitalizations Related to Childbirth, 2008. (2011). [Statistical brief].
Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes of Elective Induction of Labor. (2009). [Report].
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights (2010). This systematic evidence review was developed for the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights. View the final panel statement and a webcast of the conference.
- American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). Position statements, issue briefs, state fact sheets, clinical resources, and
continuing-education tools about midwifery. Includes resources for expectant parents about pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and infant care.
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Making Obstetrics and Maternity Safer (MOMS). Initiative to develop and implement evidence-based interventions to improve maternal health in the United States.
- Childbirth Connection. Reports, fact sheets, systematic reviews, and other resources about the U.S. maternity care system and how to improve it, women’s experience of childbearing, best evidence about specific maternity practices, and support for maternity care decision making. Includes information for women about pregnancy, childbirth, and navigating the maternity care system. Initiatives include
Transforming Maternity Care (TMC). A vision for a high-quality, high-value maternity care system, a blueprint for action, stakeholder workgroup reports and webinars, and blueprint implementation tools.
- Choices in Childbirth. Information and resources about the range of choices available to women for maternity care and birth experiences.
- Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS). Evidence-based guidelines for identifying and designating "mother-friendly" birth sites including hospitals, birth centers, and home-birth services that will improve birth outcomes and reduce maternity care costs. Additional resources include
Risks of Cesarean Section. (2010). [Fact sheet]. - International
Childbirth Education Association (ICEA).
Information about certification for childbirth educators,
doulas, and prenatal fitness educators. Includes
conference and workshop information.
Education materials are available for a fee.
- Lamaze
International. Learning modules, webinars, and other educational tools; information about
certification; position papers; conference information;
and other resources for childbirth educators. Offers
information about Lamaze classes for expectant parents and resources
about pregnancy and childbirth that include video clips about making choices for a safe and healthy birth.
- March of Dimes (MOD). Perinatal
statistics, educational tools, research and medical reference information, and patient-education materials
on topics that include childbirth. Recent resources include
Elimination of Non-Medically Indicated (Elective) Deliveries Before 39 Weeks Gestational Age: Quality Improvement Toolkit, rev. ed. (2011). [Toolkit].
- National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS): National Vital Statistics Reports. Monthly reports about infant births and deaths that include data about childbirth.
- Amnesty International Secretariat. 2010. Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA. London, UK: Amnesty International. [Report, summary].
- Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss knowledge path, family resource brief
- Preconception and Pregnancy knowledge path, family resource brief
Childbirth: Resource Brief. (January 2012).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Library.
Reviewers: Olivia Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Library
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Library.
