COST Actions
Extensive European collaboration is ongoing since 2010, including two COST Actions.
The first of these (Childbirth cultures, concerns and consequences; COST Action number: IS0907) aimed to advance scientific knowledge about ways of improving maternity care provision and outcomes for mothers, babies and families across Europe by understanding what works, for who, in what circumstances , and by identifying and learning from the best. The Action was completed successfully in 2014, with a large number of research outputs including publications, an international conference, and an international survey The second Action(Building Intrapartum Research Through Health - an interdisciplinary whole system approach to understanding and contextualising physiological labour and birth (BIRTH); COST Action number: IS1405) commenced in 2014 and is still in progress. It aims to extend the boundaries of science in ifive domains:
1. Biomedicine (epigenetics and the hygiene hypothesis)
2. Biomechanics (maternal and fetal movement)
3. Socio-cultural perspectives (social expectations and experiences, including marginalised and migrant populations)
4. Organizational perspectives (the effect of organizational contexts and cultures on variation in rates of childbirth interventions)
5. Neuro-psycho-social perspectives (how inter-personal actions and behaviours affect physiological processes).