Blueprint for Advancing High-Value Maternity Care Through Physiologic Childbearing

Area of Science:

• Maternal and Newborn Health
• Health Systems Research
• Public Health Policy

Background:

• Current maternity care trends show concerning maternal and newborn outcomes.
• Persistent racial and other disparities exist within maternity care.
• Overuse of interventions may cause unintended harm, especially for lower-risk individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline a pathway for a maternity care system focused on physiologic childbearing.
• To enable all women and newborns to experience healthy birth processes, respecting individual needs and preferences.
• To address negative trends and disparities by leveraging innate capacities and reducing interventions.

Main Methods:

• Development of a blueprint by a multistakeholder, multidisciplinary National Advisory Council.
• Focus on mobilizing innate capacities for healthy childbearing.
• Strategy to limit the use of consequential interventions.

Main Results:

• The blueprint provides a framework for advancing high-value maternity care.
• It offers more appropriate care for lower-risk populations, avoiding potentially unnecessary specialized interventions.
• It creates opportunities to improve care and outcomes for women with health challenges by fostering physiologic processes.

Conclusions:

• Advancing physiologic childbearing is key to improving maternity care outcomes and reducing disparities.
• A system-level approach is needed to reliably enable healthy birth processes for all.
• Balancing innate capacities with necessary interventions can lead to better maternal and newborn health.