the birth survey

Baby Currently: Sleeping

there are a few odds and ends about pregnancy/birth i want to tie up before this blog either makes total transition to mommy blog, goes away, or becomes a family record blog.

First is The Birth Survey

This has come through to me from two places. first it came on the home birth list serve and second it came from the prenatal yoga list i was on.

A grassroots volunteer organization for Transparency in Maternity Care has created an online survey for women who have given birth in the last three years The survey comes from the belief that women of childbearing age need access to information to be able to choose the maternity care providers and institutions that best fit their philosophy and needs.

so there is this ongoing online survey that asks women for feedback about specific care providers and institutions by name. and then the results are available online to other women for making more informed decisions. the institutions can also look it up and see how well they are doing. the online info. also includes information from state departments about obstetrical interventions at the institutions.

They piloted the survey in NYC beginning last year and it has been up and running for the nation (i think) since August.

It seems like a good idea so i went on to check it out. there's no information about anyone in my area yet, and in some way i'm sort of reluctant to put nancy out there, her reputation speaks for itself and she doesn't need the publicity. i might do it i might not, i'm not sure. BUT when i went to NYC to look up what type of info i could get it was OK. what is nice about it is that the information about C-sections and forceps deliveries etc. is all right there listed by hospital. then you can see how many stars women give the specific institution. in some way it feels like a hotel ranking system like you'd see on orbitz or hotels.com or something. but it IS nice that it's all together and you can find out all this stuff from the comfort of your living room. i think TRANSPARENCY is key here. if women use this survey to find places with lower intervention rates and higher customer service/satisfied mothers then those institutions and care providers will see positive increases in patients. and the poorer performing institutions might actually ask themselves how they can improve! AND maybe women will see more options out there than just going to the hospital that is closest.

so i think it can be a worthwhile idea. i know a lot of women who read this have had babies in the last three years and would be elegible, maybe consider being the first in your area to rate someone or an institution. and if you're a blogger or you know others who have had babies lately you can pass it on. at any rate it could be interesting to check out what they have to say on the webpage