Birth Network – 25 Years and Counting

This year’s Pregnancy and Birth issue of Growing Up just happens to fall on Birth Network of Santa Cruz County’s 25th anniversary. Receiving their official nonprofit status in October of 1998, Birth Network’s mission to support parents and service providers with information, education, and advocacy for “Mother-Friendly” childbirth began.

Birth Network promotes the goals and principles outlined in the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI), a blueprint for optimal maternity care that was hot off the press in 1996. A quarter of a century ago, Birth Network was the first non-profit to organize around the MFCI, a document ratified by a coalition of 31 individuals and 26 major childbirth related organizations.

Childbirth is a pivotal life event that benefits from accurate information about birth options, and education to make decisions based upon individual needs. The MFCI was poised to bring about critical changes to maternal/infant health in the US, and the world.

While embraced by Birth Network and other grassroots organizations, the national momentum of the MFCI was stymied, in part by the refusal of ACOG, the national organization of obstetricians and gynecologists, to endorse the document – no doubt the promotion of midwifery and low-tech care over typical obstetrics for most births was a sticking point.

As a static document, the language of the MFCI is dated and while it appears non-inclusive, nothing could be further from the truth. The principles and goals are clear and promote diversity, and inclusivity, acknowledging the burden minoritized groups carry when it comes to the state of maternity care in the US. Birth Network recognizes that Mother-Friendly care includes all pregnant people.

In 1998 it was difficult to simply find a doula, homebirth midwife or other non-mainstream childbirth/pregnancy related service. Today a pregnant or new parent can easily find Birth Network’s website, their printed Pregnancy and Birth Resource Guide, as well as Meet the Doulas, and Bellies, Birth and Babies events, because these community resources have been present in our community for over a generation.

A mainstay of the birth community, Birth Network is a founding member of the local Breastfeeding Coalition, a member of the Perinatal Mental Health Coalition, and has been involved in many community endeavors over the years. Recognizing early on that they couldn’t possibly oversee everything birth related, Birth Network instead works to be a catalyst in the childbirth community providing collaboration and support on projects and concerns.

Some of Birth Network’s past projects have included:

• Working with student interns from UCSC
• Sponsoring speakers and outreach events at UCSC and Cabrillo College
• Participating in the national Rally for Improving Birth
• Member of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services
• Presenting the live theater production of Singing the Bones
• Member of the Lamaze Parent Committee on Developing Birth Networks Nationwide
• Sponsoring/cosponsoring film showings and speaking events including Guerilla Midwife, The Business of Being Born, and Born in the USA
• Tabling at events including Children’s Day Downtown, Santa Cruz County Fair, Breastfeeding Awareness events, Mother’s Milk Bank Donation, Midwifery gatherings, and Doula Support
• Rallying support and providing advocacy around community issues including defending public breastfeeding, supporting a lactation center in danger of closing, and organizing around the threatened loss of the right to give birth vaginally after cesarean (VBAC).

So, what’s in line for the future? Birth Network weathered the pandemic and rebuilt their board of directors. Their anchor events, Meet the Doulas, and Bellies, Birth, and Babies now include a south county location that will help support bilingual access to resources. Birth Network is working with other agencies and organizations to help both doulas and parents understand and access California’s new Medi-Cal doula program. Birth Network continues to support their professional members with ongoing Networking Lunch speakers and discussion topics, as well as marketing opportunities in their printed Pregnancy and Birth Resource Guide and on the Birth Network website.

This year finishes out with Meet the Doulas on December 3, in Aptos; Bellies, Birth, and Babies on November 12, in Watsonville; and Networking Lunch for professional members on October 13.

Those interested can find details on all the upcoming events at www.birthnet.org. It’s exciting to think that some of those new or expecting parents attending an event this year might come from a family who attended a Pregnancy Information Night way back in 1998.

By Laura Maxson