PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
THE BIRTH I WANT CAMPAIGN (17 September 2012)

That this House welcomes the launch of the campaign by mothers, for mothers entitled The Birth I Want, which brings mothers and mothers-to-be to the forefront of the midwifery debate, ensuring that their personal experiences and knowledge of maternity and midwifery services are heard in the case for greatly improved maternity services tailored to the needsof each woman, supporting her through pregnancy and childbirth and beyond to achieve the best outcomes; notes that woman-centred care, led by the wants and needs of the woman is widely evidenced as the most effective way to deliver the best maternity services in terms of outcomes for the mother andchild and in minimising unnecessary medical and surgical interventions and the associated costs to the NHS; further notes that successivegovernments have promised to deliver women-centred maternity care since the Changing Childbirth report recommendations in 1993, most recently in the statement by the Secretary of State for Health on 15 May 2012; but also notes that as yet no government has delivered on these promises; and calls on the Secretary of State to urgently publish clear, costed and timetabled plans to implement the approach as pledged.