Framing Birth As Public Health, Reproductive Rights Social Issue

In a previous post, I shared the legal connection between informed consent and birthing choices. Sara Ainsworth in the Seattle PI article, framed women's birthing choices as legal issues relating to reproductive rights, patient's rights, as well as the public health concerns stemming from the risks of Cesarean births.

Framing is a process of developing communications that change the way that people think about social issues. People tend to have existing intellectualized constructs that provides their interpretations of events and issues. Sometime those dominant frames are called "pictures in our heads," "mental shortcuts." (Source: Frameworks Institute)

Effective framing, combined with field building can bring out social change where coalitions of social policy advocates work together to effectively communicate about their issue.

I learned about framing policy issues in my graduate coursework from this summer. For that purpose, my cohort members and I worked on framing early childhood education as a social issue. However, my involvement in the birth community has led me to change my focus to framing birth issues as social issues that need policy changes that benefit infants, mothers and families, instead of the current system where its the obstetricians and insurance companies who benefit.

The dialouge about social frames has gotten started and the Northwest Women's Law Center has joined it. Who else will?

Will a think-tank (a policy, research and advocacy organization) ever be formed for birth issues? What type of effort is needed to accomplish the desired changes?

As one can tell, I'm not content to sit at my computer and bemoan all that is wrong with childbirth in the United States, as Rixa says.

Birth "Think-Tank"

The Tatia Oden French Memorial Foundation is currently partnering with doulas and childbirth researchers and birth activists in forming a birth "Think Tank". The purpose of the Think Tank is to gather information, perspectives and solutions to the state of childbirth in the US, which now focuses on the "medical" model of childbirth. We hope to change the direction of birthing in the US and bring it closer to its natural state. Understanding HOW childbirth evolved to where we are now .... and the educating women regarding natural childbirth. If you would like to join us please contact us at momoden@sbcglobal.net

I found this today on Tatia Oden French Foundation website. Through the course of my graduate students, I had begun to wonder if the birth activist community needed a think tank to further the work of improving maternity services through research, advocacy and policy.

For those unfamiliar with what a think tank actually does, here is the definition from wikipedia: "A think tank (also called a policy institute) is an organization, institute, corporation, or group that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economy, science or technology issues, industrial or business policies, or military advice."

I am most familiar with think tanks relating to issues regarding early care and education (since that is what my graduate degree is in) but as I've been transitioning from preschool issues to birth issues, I've realized the birth community can benefit from the coordinate efforts of a think tank created for the purposes of correcting what is wrong with the way birth is treated today.

This blog post is a call to other researchers and activists to consider what your role can be in assisting in the organization and efforts a birth think tank. As I find out more information, I will post.