ABSTRACT
Climate change, geological events, and sociopolitical struggles are contributing to disasters devastating communities worldwide. This chapter describes the International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) instead of the International Mother-Baby Childbirth Initiative, in order to make the more recent ICI more visible and to applaud and promote implementation of its 12 Steps in all birthing facilities, and to show that these 12 Steps can indeed be implemented even in the makeshift services provided in disaster zones. The Bumi Sehat gentle Midwife-to-MotherBaby model of care has proven to be cost-effective, life-saving, and sustainable, even in the context of utter devastation. The ICI acknowledges the great variation in resources and access to care around the world. The challenge for the 21st century is to increase access to skilled care-givers and emergency care where these are lacking, while decreasing the overuse of unnecessary medical interventions, increasing understanding of normal birth and breastfeeding, and improving quality of care in all maternity care services in all countries.
