title: A call to come together: why it matters and why it works.
abstract: This letter to the editor is in response to Barbara Hotelling's column, "Tools for Teaching - The Power of Numbers: Transforming Birth Through Collaborations," published in the Volume 19, Number 2 (Spring 2010) issue of The Journal of Perinatal Education. Hotelling's brief overview of the history of birth activism in the United States and of current collaborations among diverse groups and individuals provides inspiration to continue efforts that improve maternity care and promote natural, safe, and healthy childbirth practices.
authors.affiliation: JACQUELINE LEVINE is committed to providing a continuum of care to underserved women in Long Island, New York, where she teaches free Lamaze classes and provides free labor, birth, and breastfeeding services to all the women in her classes at Planned Parenthood of Nassau County. She is a contributing author to the Lamaze e-newsletter, Building Confidence Week by Week, and a Marketing Ambassador for the Grassroots Advocacy Committee of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levine