On April 29, 2016, Roda – Parents in Action organized the #prePOROD or #reBIRTH 2016 conference, where Diogo Ayres De Campos, MD, PhD (Obstetrics), a representative of FIGO, presented the 10 steps required for a maternity hospital to earn the title of “Mother-Friendly Maternity Hospital”.

1. Freedom of movement and consumption of food and drink during the first stage of labor. Also, free choice of position during childbirth, unless contraindicated.
2. The unit follows national guidelines for HIV prevention and treatment for pregnant women and newborns. All HIV tests are voluntary. Policies and guidelines must be clearly and non-discriminatorily formulated, as well as policies for counseling and providing family planning and youth-friendly support and services.
3. Privacy is ensured either with curtains or movable walls if rooms are not separated. All efforts are directed towards ensuring that mother and baby are not separated.
4. Women should be encouraged to have at least one companion of their choice with them during childbirth, if culturally acceptable.
5. Social and cultural values should be preserved, free from harmful practices, including for women experiencing perinatal loss.
6. Women should be treated with dignity and respect, free from physical, verbal, emotional, or financial abuse.
7. Provision of affordable care in accordance with national guidelines and ensuring financial accountability and transparency. Families will be informed of expected costs so they can plan payment. Refusal of care for mother and baby due to inability to pay must not be allowed. There must also be no additional payment for C-sections or other complications.
8. All interventions must be evidence-based, in accordance with international guidelines. . Nothing should be done routinely; such as routine episiotomies, induction of labor where there are no indications, separation of mother and baby after birth… In all places where births take place, spatial, staffing, policy, and equipment must ensure everything necessary for the resuscitation of newborns and mothers, for reducing infections, for recognizing and preventing/treating emergencies, and have an established connection for consultation and transport options.
9. Education, encouragement, and counseling of staff to provide both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods of pain relief during labor when needed,
10. Encourage immediate skin-to-skin contact between mother and newborn and actively support all mothers to exclusively breastfeed their babies. (10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding).

FIGO Committee on Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health. Working Paper February 2014

Source FB Roda