Birth Summit To Be Held In Chicago

A Historic Birth Summit will be held in Chicago on November 8, 2008 at the O'Hare Hilton, in the hometown of the American Medical Association.


This historical summit was called in response to the ACOG/AMA joint proclamation (resolution 205 A-08), which sought to draft model legislation to outlaw homebirth and purported that "the safest setting for labor, delivery, and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex, that meets standards jointly outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and ACOG, or in a freestanding birthing center that meets the standards of the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, The Joint Commission, or the American Association of Birth Centers".


The summit will bring together birth activists, nurses, physicians, midwives, childbirth educators, doulas, and lactation consultants to will set the evidence-based record straight regarding midwifery care and childbirth in hospital settings in the US.


Despite their strong stand and numerous requests for the reasoning behind their proclamation, the ACOG/AMA could not cite research to support their opinion that hospitals are the safest setting for childbirth, because there is simply no research to support their stance.


At the conclusion of the summit, a joint evidence-based announcement will be made to refute the AMA/ACOG proclamation, highlight its inaccuracies, and the impact that enacting such legislation would have on an expectant mother’s right to choose her caregiver and place of birth.


All I can say is, give 'em hell....