Evidence-based practice in providing care for the mothers and babies

Milbank Memorial Fund defines Evidence-based maternity practice as:

"Evidence-based maternity care uses the best available research on the safety and effectiveness of specific practices to help guide maternity care decisions and to facilitate optimal outcomes in mothers and newborns. Although the field of pregnancy and childbirth pioneered evidence-based practice, resulting in a wealth of clear guidance for evidence-based maternity care, there remains a widespread and continuing underuse of beneficial practices, overuse of harmful or ineffective practices, and uncertainty about effects of inadequately assessed practices."

Evidence-based maternity practice is ongoing and developing model of practice which uses the latest scientific research to provide best possible up-to-date health care for mothers and babies. This initiative is based mainly in USA.

"In order to inform coverage and clinical policy decision making for maternity care, Childbirth Connection (CC), the Reforming States Group (RSG), and the Milbank Memorial Fund (MMF) collaborated to write, review, and publish this report. The report presents a discussion of current maternity care in the U.S. health care system and identifies key indicators that show the need for improvement. The report further summarizes results of the many systematic reviews that could be used to improve maternity care quality, identifies barriers to the use of evidence-based maternity care, and offers policy recommendations and other strategies that could lead to wider implementation of evidenced-based maternity care in the United States. These maternity care quality concerns and opportunities for improvement are not widely recognized at this time."

Main resources where you can find the latest research published and constantly revised are:
1. Cochrane reviews
2. Childbirth connection
3. Mildband Memorial Fund
4. National Library for Health NHS
5. WHO Reproduction Health Library

The goal of evidence-based practice is to provide maternity care which ensures the best possible outcomes based on he latest research.

"Evidence-based maternity care uses the best available research on the safety and effectiveness of specific practices to help guide maternity care decisions and to facilitate optimal outcomes in mothers and newborns. Various care paths that might be pursued in a specific situation can involve very different benefit/harm profiles. Evidence-based maternity care gives priority to effective care with least harm."