When starting a new birth network you may wonder what you will do during your meetings. Coming up with new and interesting topics is always an option, but why reinvent the wheel? There are plenty of topics available that have been done by other birth networks with success. Try some of these on for size:

1. Local Issues/Local birth stats – Each area will have different issues that are important to the members of the community and birth networks. By gathering local statistics or dealing with hot local issues you can personalize your meetings to your group. Examples might include avoiding mother/baby separation, high cesarean rates at certain facilities, or local legislation that affects breastfeeding mothers.
2. How to Have a Mother-Friendly Birth – The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) offers a great variety of documents to increase the knowledge base of your members. Introduce members to the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative through the CIMS document “Having a Baby? 10 Questions to Ask.” Examine the evidence behind each question and research the policies of local birth facilities with respect to each Mother-Friendly practice.
3. Planning for Birth – How to plan for birth, with local flavor, is a great meeting topic. Hold a meeting to discuss common items on a birth plan and techniques for communicating with staff at various local birth facilities about your plan for birth. You could even have a birth plan writing session.
4. Myths about Pregnancy and Babies Explained – Today's media loves to spread rumors about pregnancy and there is a lot of cultural and geographic variation in birth myths and superstitions. For example, some believe that if a woman has heartburn during pregnancy her baby will be hairy. Ask members to write down something they've heard about pregnancy or babies at the beginning of the meeting and have a fun meeting full of myth-busting and learning!
5. CBE Round Table – Gather up your community's best and most diverse group of childbirth educators. Set them up as a panel discussion. Topics can come from the audience or each guest can be given a few minutes to talk about her specialty.
6. Meet the Doula (pediatrician, midwife, obstetrician) – Consumers always love to be able to ask questions of practitioners. However, office visits are so formal and short. It's hard to get a real sense of the practice and practitioner sometimes. Offering an opportunity for members to ask questions of a local birth professional or a panel of practitioners will help make these specialists' knowledge more accessible to people in your community.
7. VBAC – Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) is a hot topic everywhere these days. Discuss recent studies and how to read medical literature or host a birth stories session and invite moms who had VBACs come to share their struggles and joys.
8. The Amazing Placenta – One group had a placental pathologist come to talk about placentas. It really was fascinating, slides and all! (It's probably a good idea not to do as a dinner meeting!)
9. Breastfeeding Basics – Invite a local lactation consultant or La Leche League leader to come and discuss breastfeeding basics and offer tips on tapping into local breastfeeding resources.
10. Birth Stories/Video night – Birth TV won't have anything on local gals getting together to share their personal stories. This is always one of our most well attended meetings! Bring plenty of tissues and have an open mic night!