Introduction: the coalition for improving maternity services:.
The history of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services as part of a global effort to promote normal birth is described. The principles underlying the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative are presented, the Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care are identified, and the evidence basis for the Ten Steps is introduced.
JUDITH LOTHIAN is a childbirth educator in Brooklyn, New York, a member of the Lamaze International Board of Directors, and the associate editor of The Journal of Perinatal Education. She is also an associate professor in the College of Nursing at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey .
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Lothian