Safe Childbirth: A Call to Action

Since the publication of Lamaze's Six Healthy Birth Practice papers in 2014, there has been increasing concern with the safety of the current maternity care system. A doubling of the maternal mortality rate in the United States and the continued high cesarean rate, as well as ongoing research that supports physiologic birth and identifies the risks of interfering with the physiologic process, has resulted in updated guidelines for care and has spurred advocacy efforts to transform maternity care. This article presents a number of these advocacy efforts.