Childbirth professionals and families can offer nurses a Certificate
of Commendation for providing mother-friendly nursing care.

Silver Spring, MD, January 13, 2003- ANACS is a nonprofit
organization representing nurses providing maternity care. Many
maternity care nurses advocate for change in current maternity care
practices. ANACS supports the Coalition for Improving Maternity
Services (CIMS) Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI) and in
close association with CIMS, has created Mother-Friendly Nurse
Recognition. Maternity nurses who practice mother-friendly maternity
nursing based upon the MFCI "gold standard" are eligible for Mother-
Friendly Nurse Recognition. Applications are currently being
accepted.

A letter of recommendation from a colleague, parent, or childbirth
advocate is a part of the recognition process. Childbirth educators,
doulas, and birthing mothers and their significant others may
individually offer a nurse who has provided exemplary care a
Certificate of Commendation. This certificate is a way of letting the
nurse know that you feel her care is mother-friendly. The nurse may,
if she so desires, use this certificate as one step in the official
recognition process or she may just accept it as a much-needed
acknowledgement of a job well done.

ANACS invites childbirth professionals to assist us in letting
parents know about this Certificate of Commendation and we hope that
you will help us honor nurses by presenting your own on our behalf so
that nurses can know how appreciated their mother-friendly care is.

We do hope that nurses will join ANACS and apply for the official
recognition status because we are hoping to raise awareness for
mother-friendly issues as well as raise the awareness of the need for
more mother-friendly care in maternity nursing. ANACS hopes for
increased membership so that nurses with mother-friendly voices can
find strength in numbers and help to create mechanisms for maternity
service changes.

To request a copy of the Certificate of Commendation word document be
emailed to you please write us at MFNR@... and tell us how you
plan to disseminate this information and we will email you an
attachment with the Commendation.doc. For Information Contact:
Carolyn Rafferty 301-434-5546
http://anacs.org/html/article.php?sid=220&mode=thread&order=0