title: Lamaze certified childbirth educators: drawing strength from our past to build the future.
abstract: This year's 50th anniversary of Lamaze International is a time to reflect upon our past and present as we work together to build the future of childbirth. In the 1950s and 1960s, thoughtful men and women such as Elisabeth Bing began to look carefully at the birthing practices in the United States. Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educators became leaders in improving birthing practices by teaching women and their partners the truth about how women were cared for during childbirth. Currently, the rise in maternal mortality and morbidity in the United States illustrates the pressing need for more changes. Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educators are leading change by pushing for the wide adoption of Lamaze International's Six Healthy Birth Practices to promote natural, safe, and healthy birth.
authors.affiliation: DEBRA BINGHAM is President-Elect of Lamaze International and former Executive Director of the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative. Bingham's expertise is in quality improvement implementation among frontline maternity leaders. She was a researcher for the first three years of the California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Reviews.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bingham