title: Advancing normal birth: organizations, goals, and research.
abstract: In this column, the support for advancing normal birth is summarized, based on a comparison of the goals of Healthy People 2010, Lamaze International, the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, and the midwifery model of care. Research abstracts are presented to provide evidence that the midwifery model of care safely and economically advances normal birth. Rates of intervention experienced, as reported in the Listening to Mothers survey, are compared to the forms of care recommended by the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Implications for perinatal education are addressed.
authors.affiliation: BARBARA HOTELLING is an independent childbirth educator and doula in Rochester Hills, Michigan. She has served as president of Lamaze International, president of Doulas of North America (DONA), and chair of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS).
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Hotelling
authors.forename: Sharron S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Humenick