The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric & Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), with support from the Huggies® brand through an educational grant, has launched the "Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) Framework and Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline" with the corresponding "Respectful Maternity Care Toolkit." These resources identify the essential aspects of respectful care needed to improve the birth experiences of people receiving health care in maternity settings and provide tools that providers can leverage.

 

The new AWHONN RMC resources are intended to reduce risks and harms for all birthing women within the health care community as they safely prepare for birth, postpartum recovery, and beginning breastfeeding and parenting. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 60% of pregnancy-related maternal deaths are preventable, yet Black and Indigenous mothers are three times more likely to die in the first-year post-birth as compared to White mothers (CDC, 2017, Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System).

"Huggies has a long-standing partnership with AWHONN, and we are proud to continue supporting this work focused on ensuring equitable maternity care for all," said Rebecca Dunphey, President of North America Personal Care at Kimberly-Clark. "Huggies believes that every mom deserves the best possible opportunity to not only survive but to thrive before, during, and after childbirth. We also know there is significant disparity in current care practices, and joining AWHONN in providing these resources drives further advocacy and action while building awareness of this important issue."

The RMC resources are available to AWHONN's 23,500 members, and these materials help strengthen the nursing profession by guiding maternal healthcare providers through the delivery of superior patient care. The RMC also includes recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global maternal-child health organizations.

"AWHONN developed the Respectful Maternity Care approach to care to ensure that women, newborns and their families receive equitable care. Implicit and explicit bias in healthcare is real and may cause unintended harm to patients, with Black and Indigenous and other women of color experiencing bias much more often. The RMC Evidence-Based Guideline and Implementation Toolkit gives nurses real-world guidelines on how to provide safe, supportive care from birth through postpartum," said Jonathan Webb, CEO of AWHONN. "We feel fortunate to enjoy the support of Huggies in our work to end healthcare disparities."

Through the release of this first-of-its kind, evidence-based materials and toolkit, AWHONN and the Huggies brand are supporting moms and their families by ensuring healthcare providers have access to a comprehensive set of guidelines designed to help these professionals deliver equitable maternal care rooted in dignity, respect and free from racism.