Who We Are
History of the MFCI
The MFCI and the International Community
The Future
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) is a coalition of individuals and national organizations with concern for the care and well-being of mothers, babies, and families. Our mission is to promote a wellness model of maternity care that will improve birth outcomes and substantially reduce costs. This evidence-based mother-, baby-, and family-friendly model focuses on prevention and wellness as the alternatives to high-cost screening, diagnosis, and treatment programs.
The evidence-based Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI) evolved from the collaborative effort of many individuals and more than 26 organizations focused on pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding during meetings spanning nearly three years in the 1990's. The MFCI - the cornerstone of our mission - is the first and only consensus document on U.S. maternity care. The MFCI is recognized as an important instrument for change both in this country and abroad. Acknowledging the need to ensure the ongoing education and promotion of the Mother-Friendly childbirth model of care defined in the MFCI, CIMS was established as a non-profit corporation in 1997.
CIMS is at an exciting time in its development. As CIMS moves forward in its second decade, our focus is on supporting both “bottom-up” and “top-down” advocacy for Mother-Friendly Care. From the powerful work of the Grassroots Advocates Committee’s The Birth Survey project, which is mobilizing mothers and volunteers across the country, to the significant contributions of research on the evidence basis for Mother-Friendly Care, CIMS remains committed to providing the guidance and collaboration needed to support the maternity care community and ensure that mothers receive the care they deserve.
CIMS’ membership in the National Quality Forum (NQF), a public-private partnership created to develop and implement a national strategy for health care quality and measurement, reflects our commitment to bring about national change. Through the NQF’s Consumer Council, CIMS lends its voice to the needs of birthing women in the ongoing national debate about how best to improve maternity care.
CIMS is also an active member of the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), a collaborative partnership of organizations dedicated to improving the nation’s health by protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding.
Learn more about CIMS' structure and governance in Meet CIMS.
Beginning in 1994, a series of collaborative, informal meetings were held in conjunction with the annual meetings of several U.S. childbirth and breastfeeding organizations to develop a consensus document on normal birth in North America. Nearly every maternity care professional organization in North America plus scores of individual providers, researchers, scholars, advocates, activists, consumers, mothers and family members were part of the creation of the document.
The Ten Steps for improving maternity care were written at the final meeting in the spring of 1996 at Mt. Madonna near Santa Cruz, Calif. A steering committee of the new organization, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, was named as the meeting ended. Lamaze International donated staff support for most of the meetings, and for the first three years of CIMS’ existence. An editorial committee of five published authors was created at the Mt. Madonna meeting to complete the MFCI for ratification. Participants had agreed that 2/3 of the organizations and 2/3 of the individuals present at the final meeting would be required for ratification. That goal was reached on July 1, 1996– a history-making achievement. See original ratifiers.
Since then, supporters from all over the world and from all walks of life have added their voice to our call for Mother-Friendly Care by endorsing the MFCI. We invite you to add your voice to this important cause by endorsing the MFCI today.
The MFCI has been translated into 14 languages and has been applied as an instrument of change in at least 39 countries throughout the world. Stop by our Mother-Friendly Documents and Downloads page where you will find the MFCI available in 4 languages as well as other related support materials.
The MFCI supports the Healthy People 2010: Maternal, Infant, and Child Health (Section 16) goals to improve maternal, infant, and child health.
In 2006, CIMS brought together an investigative research team to update the scientific evidence of the MFCI. After reviewing more than 15 years of scientific studies for each of the 26 care practices included in the 10 steps of the MFCI, the researchers found overwhelming evidence to support compliance with The Evidence Basis for the Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care. A consumer summary of the evidence is also available as a free PDF on this site.
Due to the increasing global interest in the MFCI, in 2002, CIMS was invited as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to participate in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children. As a result of the growing community of international birth advocates and the need to improve maternity care in other countries, CIMS supported the creation of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO) in 2006. The IMBCO is an independent, sister organization which developed the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative, modeled after the MFCI, but uniquely focused on the challenges faced by the international communities in both more developed and less developed countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized the important role that Mother-Friendly maternity care plays in successful breastfeeding and has included a condensed version of the MFCI in the WHO's publication, Infant and Young Child Feeding: A tool for assessing national practices, policies, and programmes [PDF].
Many new and exciting CIMS projects and products are forthcoming, including an online “live” version of the evidence document for the MFCI that will include the very latest research updates, a professional line of manuals and training modules for institutions who want to improve their “Mother-Friendliness,” and at long last, the CIMS Mother-Friendly Childbirth Book for mothers and their families.
We invite you to Get Involved with CIMS today.
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