Acnm's Opitmality Working Group Honored By Lamaze

By Author: Wayne Stanley
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Focus on normal birth as gold standard of care recognized by childbirth educators

Silver Spring, MD -- The Optimality Working Group (OWG), led by Dr. Judith Fullerton, CNM, of the American College of Nurse-Midwives' Division of Research was recently honored by Lamaze International, for the OWG's commitment to the development of research tools and methods that position normal birth as the gold standard of care.

According to Holly Powell Kennedy, CNM, PhD, FACNM, chair of ACNM's Division of Research, "In an era when most obstetric research is conducted within a context where intervention-intensive care is the norm, it is hard to evaluate the impact of maternity care practices on the normal physiology of labor and birth. The work of the Optimality Working Group acknowledges that the process of care (i.e. the midwifery model/low-intervention care) is an integral component of - and directly influences - the outcomes of maternity care. The absence of complications is simply not enough."

The Optimality Index-US holds normal birth as the "optimal condition" and allows researchers to evaluate deviations from this ...
... norm within an evidence-based framework. It incorporates what many recognize about normal birth and the midwifery model of care - that the best possible outcome is a healthy mom, a healthy baby, and a birth that unfolded naturally with minimal intervention.

Patricia Aikins Murphy, CNM, DrPH, FACNM, the primary investigator of this concept, and Judith T. Fullerton, CNM, PhD, FACNM, members of the ACNM Division of Research, initiated the instrument development work. The Optimality Working Group was formed to continue the process of development and refinement of the measurement tool. An article describing the Optimality Index was published in the September/October 2001 issue of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health. Complimentary copies of that article are available for the media by contacting the ACNM communications office. Other information about the Optimality Working Group is available online at http://www.midwife.org/about.cfm?id=255 .

Members of the Optimality Working Group, at the time of the Lamaze nomination, included: Catherine Carr, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, Leslie Cragin, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, Judith Fullerton, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, Lisa Kane Low, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, Holly Kennedy, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, Patricia Murphy, DrPH, CNM, FACNM, Julia Seng, Ph.D., CNM.

The Lamaze Research Award honors "the person or organization that, through their research, has significantly contributed to the field of childbirth education and normal birth. This major award encourages and highlights research in the field of childbirth education or research that will have a positive impact on what is taught in childbirth classes." The award presentation took place during Lamaze International's annual meeting this past September.

For more information, please contact Tim Clarke, Jr., ACNM Communications Manager, at 240-485-1821 or via email at tclarke@acnm.org .

With roots dating to 1929, the American College of Nurse-Midwives is the oldest women's health care association in the U.S. ACNM's mission is to promote the health and well-being of women and newborns within their families and communities through the development and support of the profession of midwifery as practiced by certified nurse-midwives and certified midwives. Midwives believe every individual has the right to safe, satisfying health care with respect for human dignity and cultural variations.

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