Thank you for supporting the Transparency in Maternity Care Project: The Birth Survey. Our matching grant drive was successful and has been completed.
For more information about what we do, please see our website: www.thebirthsurvey.com
It is easier to get consumer satisfaction and quality information about a car, or even a blender than it is to get satisfaction and quality information about health care providers.
Women in America choose their doctor, midwife and maternity care facility based on word-of-mouth or insurance company referrals, largely unaware of the quality of care being provided by that individual or facility.
Health care reform experts indicate that transparency in our system is necessary for overall system improvement. Consumers must be informed about quality of care benchmarks and how their providers stack-up in order to make the best decisions about their own health care.
The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) is developing a new internet-based program to create transparency in maternity care at www.thebirthsurvey.com. Women in the five burroughs of New York are now able to:
Share their personal opinions about the health care they received specific to their individual provider during their pregnancy and birth by using an online, on-going survey based on the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI);
Connect with other women by viewing consumer feedback about the care they received from individual providers;
Learn about the maternity intervention statistics by facililty (hospital or birthing center) in their community.
CIMS is proud of the work that we have done as a coalition of maternity care change agents to bring this project from the dream stage to the launch of our pilot in New York City. We will spend this first pilot year stregthening and improving the system and will be preparing for a national launch of the survey in the summer of 2008.
Now – we need your help! Will you please consider a gift to support CIMS' exciting new project: www.thebirthsurvey.com?
$10, $50, $100...whatever you can do will help this vision become a reality.
We would also appreciate your help in passing along this project proposal to all of your friends and family who are concerned about improving maternity care in the USA.
Contact us directly at: cimsgrassroots@yahoo.com if you have questions or would like to get involved.
Thank you for your support of this empowering new project!