In the 114th Congress, which convened in January, about a dozen abortion restrictions and anti-abortion bills have been introduced, according to Sarah Lipton-Lubet, director of reproductive health programs for National Partnership for Women and Families.
“These bills insert politicians in the exam room,” said Lipton-Lubet.
The Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing report from Childbirth Connection, a program of the National Partnership for Women and Families, offers several guidelines when it comes to avoiding interventions (when not needed for medical reasons), as this is one of the most potent sources of harm when it comes to interrupting the hormonal process.
Our country’s infant and maternal mortality rates are too high, and our performance on prematurity, low-birth-weight babies, cesareans, early elective deliveries, and exclusive breastfeeding lags behind that of many other nations,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. “We simply must improve the quality of care for both mothers and babies – and this legislation can do that.”
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
According to a National Partnership for Women and Families (NPWF) survey of U.S. women who gave birth between July 2011 and 2012, 9 percent of pregnant women who requested schedule changes or time off while pregnant (for reasons relating to their pregnancy, such as prenatal appointments) said their requests were denied.
Marching forward with our Hormones and Healthy Birth series, today we look at “Healthy Birth Practice 3: Bring a Loved One, Friend, or Doula for Continuous Support” and how it relates to the findings in the Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing report from Childbirth Connection, a a program of the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, was quoted in the HHS release saying the change will “drive fundamental changes in how care is delivered, making the health care system more responsive to those it serves and improving care coordination and communication.”
“We have come to use interventions that were developed to meet very specific needs in a very casual way,” said Carol Sakala, director of programs at Childbirth Connection, a program of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Instead of reading tea leaves about the elections, ask voters what they think. The National Partnership and the Rockefeller Family Fund did just that, commissioning a nationwide election night poll of 2014 voters. Eighty-one percent said it’s important for lawmakers to consider new laws that help keep families economically secure such as paid sick days and family and medical leave insurance. Seventy-four percent of independents, 73 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of men, 95 percent of voters under 30, 97 percent of African-Americans and 95 percent of Latinos agreed.
Common interventions in labor and delivery don’t always improve outcomes, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Partnership for Women and Families.
“It’s important for both clinicians and women to understand that common interventions, that we have come to view quite casually, are actually quite consequential,” said Carol Sakala, director of Childbirth Connection Programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families.
A long awaited report written by Dr. Sarah Buckley, “Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing: Evidence and Implications for Women, Babies, and Maternity Care” is being released by Childbirth Connection, a program of the National Partnership for Women and Families. In this valuable report, Dr. Buckley gathers the most current research and provides the definitive guide for the role of hormones in normal, natural birth.
Comprehensive Report Examines the Science on the Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing and Its Implications for Women, Babies and Maternity Care
In 2015 groups such as the National Partnership for Women and Families hope to close gaps in federal workplace protections to address the needs of pregnant workers. They are urging Congress to pass the Pregnant Workers’ Fairness Act to achieve this critical step.
More than 250,000 women a year are denied their requests for pregnancy accommodation, according to a 2013 survey by Childbirth Connection, a project of the National Partnership for Women & Families. More than half the women surveyed said they did not request an accommodation because they feared retaliation.
“The fact that the Affordable Care Act requires qualified health plans to cover maternity care and offers financial assistance to reduce out-of-pocket costs is a game changer for many women,” says Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, director of health policy at the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
A recent study by the National Partnership for Women & Families found that many pregnant women are denied even the simplest accommodations, such as extra bathroom breaks.
“Every family in America has a stake in the outcome of this case,” said Judith L. Lichtman, a senior advisor to the National Partnership for Women and Families, which submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of 12 groups committed to maternal and fetal health.
“It’s really tough to think, that in this day and age, when women are half the workforce, and so many families depend on their income, that women are still having to choose, and potentially, lose their job and lose their health insurance because they’re pregnant,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families.
