Leveraging The International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) to Improve Community Birth Outcomes

MEAC Continuing Educating Units

This course, Leveraging The International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) to Improve Community Birth Outcomes, is worth 2 MEAC ACCREDITED CEU HOURS.

The International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) 12 Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care provides clear steps for implementing evidence-based maternity care worldwide and is that rare initiative endorsed by both the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO). ICI acknowledges the interaction between the MotherBaby dyad, family and environment as well as their interactions with health providers and health systems. Community midwives can find a multitude of benefits in the quality improvement mechanisms used to monitor the process, effect, and engagement in safe and respectful maternity services in every setting. Come to this 2-hour class to learn how midwives in Idaho can benefit from the power of using the ICI as a framework for their midwifery practice.

PRICE

Leveraging The International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) to Improve Community Birth Outcomes: $59

CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS

CEU: 2 hours

Accredited by MEAC

Purchase anytime you are ready. You have access to the full course for 30 days after you purchase

COURSE TAUGHT BY

Vicki Penwell, CPM, BSM, MSM, MA

COURSE OUTLINE

In 2019, the International MotherBaby Childbirth Organization (IMBCO) and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) released The International Childbirth Initiative (ICI): Twelve Steps to Safe and Respectful MotherBaby-Family Maternity Care. The 12 steps reflect the most recent evidence and understanding of what constitutes safe, respectful maternity care.

Step 1: Treat every woman and newborn with compassion, respect, and dignity, without physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, providing culturally safe and culturally sensitive care that respects the individual's customs, values, and rights to self-expression, informed choice, and privacy.

Step 2: Respect every woman's right to access and receive non-discriminatory and free or at least affordable care throughout the continuum of childbearing with the understanding that under no circumstances can a woman or baby be refused care or detained after birth for lack of payment.

Step 3: Routinely provide the MotherBaby-Friendly maternity care model integrating midwifery scope of practice and philosophy that can be practiced by all maternity care professionals in all settings and at all levels of care provision.

Step 4: Acknowledge the mother's right to continuous support during labor and birth and inform her of its benefits, and ensure that she receives such support from providers and companions of her choice.

Step 5: Offer non-pharmacological comfort and pain relief measures during labor as safe first options. If pharmacological pain relief options are available and requested, explain their benefits and risks.

Step 6: Provide evidence–based practices beneficial for the MotherBaby–Family throughout the entire childbearing continuum.

Step 7: Avoid potentially harmful procedures and practices that have insufficient evidence of benefit outweighing risk for routine or frequent use in normal pregnancy, labor, birth, and the post-partum and neonatal period.

Step 8: Implement measures that enhance wellness and prevent illness for the MotherBaby–Family, including good nutrition, clean water, sanitation, hygiene, family planning, disease and complications prevention, and pre- and post-natal education.

Step 9: Provide appropriate obstetric, neonatal, and emergency treatment when needed. Ensure that staff are trained in recognizing (potentially) dangerous conditions and complications and in providing effective treatment or stabilization, and have established links for consultation and a safe and effective referral system.

Step 10: Have a supportive human resource policy in place for the recruitment and retention of dedicated staff and ensure that staff are safe, secure, respected, and enabled to provide good quality, collaborative, personalized care to women and newborns in a positive working environment.

Step 11: Provide a continuum of collaborative care with all relevant healthcare providers, institutions, and organizations with established plans and logistics for communication, consultation, and referral between all levels of care.

Step 12: Achieve the 10 steps of the revised Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (2018). Protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding facilities providing maternity services.

We will expound upon each step and include more specific information. For example, Step 7 includes a table of routine interventions to be avoided. Step 6 includes a discussion of evidence-based practices. For each step, we will also include performance indicators. At the end, we will give information on applying for your birth center or hospital where you work to become an Implementing Site of ICI.