At Choices in Childbirth (CiC), we believe every woman deserves a healthy, safe and humane birth experience.
In the United States, many women aren’t given the best birth options. Medical intervention is the norm, and hospitals rely on epidurals, C-sections, induced labor, and other medically unnecessary practices. Our nation spends twice as much per capita on birth than any other country, and yet has some of the worst maternal outcomes among industrialized nations.
Educating women is the first step to improving maternal health. But at CiC, we don’t stop there—in order to ensure that all women have access to optimal maternity care, we advocate for change throughout the health care system. While our education and outreach efforts help create change one woman and family at a time, our legislative and policy initiatives help thousands.
Our team passionately works to reform the maternity care field by investing in policy work; generating widespread, long-term behavioral change; forging deep connections with consumers and the birth field; and supporting meaningful change at the local, state, and national levels. Our work expands access to evidence-based maternity care practices that result in healthier birth outcomes for mothers and babies, reduced maternal health outcome disparities, more satisfying birth experiences, and a higher level of family engagement in health care.
Choices in Childbirth testified before the Health Committee of the City Council on behalf of CiC and Childbirth Connection on the benefits of doula care and maternal health outcomes in New York City, establishing the need for change by presenting national and local existing conditions. This conversation resulted in the implementation of a city-funded program to expand access to community-based doulas in NYC, Healthy Women, Healthy Futures.
Healthy Women, Healthy Futures Doula Training
At CiC, we:
- Engage the public through events, outreach, and volunteer opportunities.
- Amplify women’s voices—to their providers, to other women, and to policymakers.
- Do research, creating policy briefs and reports based on diligent, rigorous review of existing data.
- Collaborate through coalitions and partnerships to drive long-term, system wide change.
- Create tools for both policy decisionmakers and individual decisionmakers alike.
A leader in maternity care policy, CiC connects with and advocates to other leaders, policy makers, and health care providers to provide accessible, culturally competent, and evidence-based maternity care services for all women.
Read our current report on Doula Care in NYC. Browse toolkits and resources, read our reports, and get involved today.