THE BIRTH SURVEY
It is easier to get consumer satisfaction and quality information about a car, or even a blender than it is to get satisfaction and quality information about health care providers. 

Women in America choose their doctor, midwife and maternity care facility based on word-of-mouth or insurance company referrals, largely unaware of the quality of care being provided by that individual or facility. Health care reform experts indicate that transparency in our system is necessary for overall system improvement. Consumers must be informed about quality of care benchmarks and how their providers stack-up in order to make the best decisions about their own health care. 

The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) has developed a web-based program to create transparency in maternity care. Women are able to:

Current and former Birth Network National board, chapter leaders and chapter members have been working as key leaders in the creation of this project and by working to gain access maternity intervention data from their state public health departments. 

Please contact   if you are interested in volunteering to help access maternity intervention data from individual states or if you want to help with this project in any other way. 

For more information see The Birth Survey website.