On Labor Day, September 3, 2012, over 100 cities across all 50 states will host rallies to show support for improving birth practices in the United States. These rallies, hosted by ImprovingBirth.org, have quickly gained widespread viral support and the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) is proud to support our members’ and chapter leaders’ participation in their local events. The intention of the event is to bring awareness to the alarmingly high rates of unnecessary cesarean sections and labor inductions. The campaign seeks to educate and empower women with evidence-based information in order to make truly informed choices regarding their maternity care.
ICAN is an organization dedicated to supporting women who have had a cesarean section, providing education about evidence-based maternity care and options, and advocating for the availability of VBAC. In 2010, the latest year for which we have data, 32.8% of all American births were via cesarean section. ICAN seeks to lower this number, through education and advocacy, to within the healthy levels established by the World Health Organization of 10-15%. ICAN is hopeful that the National Rally for Change will work towards these goals as well.
