Lamaze International has released a new campaign, 'Push for Your Baby!' that demonstrates thekey role that childbirth educators have in providing the tools for mother and families to ask for and receive the best care possible for their pregnancy, labor and birth.

Along with the 'Push for Your Baby' campaign, Lamaze International reveals two new websites, Lamaze International for Parents geared for parents and consumers seeking information about classes, best practices and resources to help them connect with a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and have the best birth possible and Lamaze International for the childbirth professional, where you can find professional development opportunities, forums for peer connection, resources for working with families to help them have the safest and healthiest births possible and information on becoming a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator.

'With the right information and education, women have the opportunity to be active partners in their care during pregnancy and birth, not just recipients of that care,' said and Lamaze Childbirth Educator Program for the Duke AHEC Program. 'This campaign is designed to help women be 'savvy shoppers' and prepared to seek out the best care for their babies and themselves.' Lamaze President-elect Tara Owens Shuler, MEd, CD(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, Director of Continuing Education, Special Projects

The key components of the 'Push for Your Baby' campaign include;

• Push for Better!

Women often do not know what questions to ask or how to find out if the recommendations and suggestions provided by care providers are in line with research about what is best for mothers and babies. Childbirth educators play a significant role in preparing parents to have the conversations that matter, when the parents have learned and understand what the current research says about healthy birth practices from attending your classes.

• Spot the Best Care

Parents often receive an overabundance of information during the childbearing year on the topics of pregnancy, labor, birth, breastfeeding and newborn/infant care. Much of this information, though potentially well meaning, might not be totally accurate. Lamaze provides an easy way for parents to understand the practices that offer the safest care and explains their options and avoid unnecessary interventions. Directing your families to the Six Lamaze Healthy Birth Practices, complete with short videos and downloadable pdfs of research and resources helps simplify the information overload and provides accurate resources to help parents understand how to have the healthiest and safest birth possible.

• Childbirth Challenges

As labor unfolds, being flexible and adapting to changing circumstances is an absolute necessity for women and their partners. Working in partnership with their care providers to understand interventions and the alternatives that might be available can help families to avoid unintended consequences. Your role as a childbirth educator is critical to giving mothers and partners the tools to face these challenges if they should arise during their labor and birth.

• Questions to Ask Your Physician or Midwife

10 Questions to Ask When Selecting A Care Provider can help families to identify doctors and midwives who are a good fit for them and who practice in a way that feels good to the mother. Using these well thought out questions can help families decide who is the right person to help them welcome their baby in the safest and healthiest way possible. Women may not do the up front 'leg work' to find a provider who shares their vision of pregnancy and birth, but these questions provide a great guide. Using these questions as resources in an early pregnancy class can help your students find the right fit for their pregnancy and birth.

Questions to Ask During Labor and Birth will help mothers and their partners to ask the important questions when faced with decisions during their labor and birth. The unpredictability of certain birth situations will require parents to gather information. These simple questions will help them to organize their thoughts and advocate for their birth and their baby. Taking time to collect this information will allow mothers to feel confident in the decisions they make as they work to birth their baby in the safest and healthiest manner possible.

Childbirth education can help you to push for the best care! In a poignant, and extremely effective eight minute video, meet seven women and hear more about their births, the challenges they faced, their experiences in seeking care that felt good to them and the choices they made. Hear how these women feel about their birth experience. The celebrations and the forks in the road. These stories are a wonderful cross section of the types of experiences that women in our classes may receive, all across the country and around the world. The message in the video is loud and clear that childbirth education helps women to be better positioned to ask the right questions, seek appropriate care and be more prepared to face the challenges that may arise during their labor and birth.

Take a look at this video, and think about how you can share these women's stories with the women and families that you work with. What discussions can grow from the stories in the video? How are you going to use this learning tool to help prepare the families that you work with to 'Push for Your Baby' and receive the care they and their babies deserve? Share your ideas with us here in our comments section and let us know what YOU plan to do?

Lamaze educators around the world are the cornerstone of good childbirth education preparation for today's parents. The 'Push for Your Baby' campaign recognizes the information that parents learn in your classes helps them to be better prepared, play an active role in advocating for themselves and their babies and asking for care that is backed by research and proven to be safest and healthest for mom and baby.

What you can you do today?

Explore both the Lamaze for Parents and Lamaze International for educators websites and see what is new and exciting

Watch and share the 'Push for Your Baby- Parents Share Their Stories' video with your online community

Place the new 'Push for Your Baby' Logo, Banner and Button on your blog or website to let the world know you support safe and healthy birth practices

Visit the Lamaze Science & Sensibility Facebook Page and share the 'I Help Parents Push for the Best Care' picture to spread the word in your social community about this exciting new campaign and your role in helping parents to 'Push for Your Baby.'

Watch the Science & Sensibility blog over the next days and weeks as we explore together all the rich resources available to you as educators on the new and improved websites.

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