FIGO’s Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health Committee, in collaboration with IPA, WRA, ICM, and WHO have published new guidelines for mother-baby friendly birthing facilities. These guidelines were developed in response to rising rates of abuse, neglect, and coercion of birthing women in healthcare facilities.
These guidelines provide criteria promoting the women’s agency in their birthing experiences, nondiscrimination, access to affordable or free evidence-based maternity care, pain relief practices, immediate skin-to-skin mother-baby care and breastfeeding, and the elimination of all verbal, emotional, physical, and financial abuse, practices that all too often accompany birthing care.
These guidelines are a call to action and seek to incite global change, which will not only improve dignity of care but will also reduce maternal mortality and morbidities. We are proud to announce Safe Motherhood Program’s contribution to these guidelines, which will act as a leading step towards global standards of skilled and compassionate maternity care.
Read more about these guidelines at Mother–Baby Friendly Birthing Facilities Initiative and Mother−baby friendly birthing facilities.
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