How to influence hospital policy? Wow. No easy task, I realize. I think the first step is to understand who the decision makers are and how the hospital machine works. So, you need an insider. A local physician and my nurse mom have helped me but I still have a ways to go in getting the complete picture. If you represent an organization (like ICAN), you are in a good place to request a meeting with a decision-maker. If you are an individual, letter-writing might be a good beginning. If you’re planning a hospital birth, write to the hospitals you did not select and explain why you didn’t. If you had a hospital birth, write to the hospital after your experience and give feedback–both positive and negative.

The information on evidence-based maternity care is out there. That work has been done and is being done on a national level. http://www.childbirthconnection.com is a great resource for national health reform campaign and documents available for sharing. Check out their Maternity Quality Matters Initiative. The baby-friendly hospital initiative is another campaign that can be implemented on a local level. And finally, my favorite source, the Cochrane Database provides the most recent research available.

Now the most important piece–the consumer. Maternity care is the money-maker for most hospitals. If we can empower and educate the consumer on best-practices (physiological birth, continuous labor support, vertical birth positions, etc), then they will drive demand for change.

I know–easier said than done. Thanks for asking the million dollar question, though.

What are some things you would suggest doing to influence hospital policy outside of your own birth? The majority of us never really come in contact with L&D staff outside of our own experiences.