Links and Resources
National Advocates for Pregnant Women
National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) works to secure the human and civil rights, health and welfare of all women, focusing particularly on pregnant and parenting women, and those who are most vulnerable - low income women, women of color, and drug-using women. NAPW seeks to ensure that women do not lose their constitutional and human rights as a result of pregnancy, that addiction and other health and welfare problems they face during pregnancy are addressed as health issues, not as crimes; that families are not needlessly separated, based on medical misinformation; and that pregnant and parenting women have access to a full range of reproductive health services, as well as non-punitive drug treatment services. By focusing on the rights of pregnant women, NAPW broadens and strengthens the reproductive justice, drug policy reform, and other interconnected social justice movements in America today.
http://www.advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/
Childbirth Connection
Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families.
http://www.childbirthconnection.org
ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network)
ICAN is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve maternal-child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through education, providing support for cesarean recovery and promoting vaginal birth after cesarean. There are 94 ICAN Chapters across North America, which hold educational and support meetings for people interested in cesarean prevention and recovery.
My Best Birth
A social network created by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein.
Choices in Childbirth
An organization whose mission is to improve maternity care by providing the public, especially childbearing women and their families, with the information necessary to make fully informed decisions relating to how, where, and with whom they will give birth.
http://www.choicesinchildbirth.org
Midwives Aliance of North America
MANA is a professional organization for all midwives, recognizing the diversity of educational backgrounds and practice styles within the profession. Its goal is to unify and strengthen the profession of midwifery, thereby improving the quality of health care for women, babies, and communities.
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists- News Releases
http://www.acog.org/from_home/newsrel.cfm
VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) Articles and Resources
ACOG’s 2010 Guidelines Comparison (PDF)
Press Release: Ob-Gyns Issue Less Restrictive VBAC Guidelines (ACOG, July 2010)
Does your hospital have a VBAC ban? ICAN’s VBAC Policy Database
Childbirth Connection: VBAC or Repeat C-Section
ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network): VBAC
Midwifery Today: What Every Midwife Should Know About ACOG and VBAC (Wagner)
TheUnnecesarean.com: HBAC Stories and VBAC Stories
VBAC.com: Informed Decisions About Maternity Care
History of VBAC in the United States