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Join HRiC’s Key Stakeholder Advisory Group

HRiC is forming a global network of lawyers, researchers and advocates dedicated to improving maternity care - everywhere. Join us! Human Rights in Childbirth (HRiC) is developing a new strategy to inform our advocacy and strategic direction over the next three...

Terms of Reference: Key Stakeholder Advisory Group (KSAG)

Human Rights in Childbirth (HRiC) is developing a new strategy to inform our advocacy and strategic direction over the next three years. Our goal is to develop a sustainable network of key stakeholders in order to make full use of, and build on, our collective skills...

Forced Sterilisation during Caesarean and Informed Consent – the case of I.V. vs Bolivia

I.V. vs. Bolivia was the first time the Inter-American Court of Human Rights analysed the foundations of the right to informed consent.

Shared Decision Making in Maternity Care

In this article HRiC outlines its opinion on shared decision making and how it relates to human rights, specifically in maternity care.

Report on Rights Violations in Maternity Care During COVID-19

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, HRiC has been collecting reports of disproportionate human rights violations in maternity care. The first set of rights violations have been published in a report (available below) and sent to the United Nations. , The...

Contribute to our Second Report on Violations in Maternity Care during COVID-19

Help us document what is happening taken in maternity care services in your country - send us a submission by Friday, 10 July 2020.The COVID pandemic is having an enormous impact on maternity care around the world. Minute by minute, day by day, practices and norms are...

HRiC informs European Parliament Action on Maternity Care during COVID-19

HRiC has been working with a Member of European Parliament to bring light to some of the problems women throughout Europe and the world are facing in maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Report Rights Violations during COVID-19

Help us document what is happening taken in maternity care services in your country - send us a submission by Friday, 24 April.The COVID pandemic is having an enormous impact on maternity care around the world. Minute by minute, day by day, practices and norms are...

Midwifing Us Through the Epidemic

Now is the time to press our governments and policy makers to support midwifery care in communities as part of policies to address climate change or Green New Deals that are being prepared around the world – to make sure we are well-prepared for the next emergency or pandemic. We ignore midwifery models of care, essential midwifery skills, community and home birth at our peril – future generations will depend on them as part of crisis response.

Communications Volunteer Position

HRiC is seeking a communications volunteer – apply by 30 April 2019!

HRIC India Conference Program

Women have a right to survive childbirth, but it is not their only human right.

The Human Rights in Childbirth Global Conference in India will be held at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai from 2-5 February to 2017.

The event addresses how maternity care can optimize maternal and infant health outcomes in a respectful, culturally sensitive, human rights framework.

The Conference will convene a vibrant and interdisciplinary group of maternity care providers, public health professionals, lawyers, activists, policy makers and reproductive justice advocates and others interested in advancing respectful and evidence-based care.

Collaborators and participants will join the front edge of global efforts to eliminate disrespect and abuse in maternity care and ensure non-discriminatory access to care for every woman and baby.

This Conference will help evolve global maternity care policies and practices from the critical recognition that preventable maternal mortality is a human rights issue, toward recognition of the full spectrum of human rights at stake in childbirth.

Together, attendees will envision maternity care systems that attend to the healthcare needs and human rights of mothers, babies, families, and communities worldwide.

DAY 1  – VOICES OF WOMEN  – 4, FEB 2017

Keynote Address

  • Aparajita Gogoi (WRAI)

Plenary Panel: Indian Maternity Care Development and Human Rights – is there a connection?

    • Dr. Kirti Iyengar (UNFPA)
    • Dr. Prakassama (ANSWERS)
    • Dr. David Osrin (Paediatrician)
    • Kerry McBroom (ICRC Rapporteur)

Panel 1  – Women’s Experience of Care – too little too late?

    • Unnimaya Kurup (IIT Madras)
    • Sohini Chattophadya (FreelanceJournalist)
    • Asha Kilaru (BBN) & Pushpalatha M
    • Sarita Barpanda (HRLN)

Panel 2  – Non-Discriminatory Access to Maternity Healthcare Services

    • Manju Kamarcharya
    • Sushma Shende (SNEHA)         
    • Nalini Visvanatham
    • Regina Tames (GIRE)

Panel 3  – Womens’ Experience of Care – too much too soon?

    • Ibu Eka Maya, Midwife Indonesia (video)
    • Subarna Ghosh (Birth India)
    • Vijaya Krishnan (Healthy Mother)
    • Lina Duncan (Mumbai Midwives)

DAY 2  – SYSTEMS OF CARE  – 3, FEB 2017

Lancet: Maternal Health Series (Asia Launch)

    • Prof. Suellen Miller, Ob/Gyn (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
    • Prof. Lynn Freedman (ADMM)

Panel 1  – Organizing healthcare for Improving Quality and Respect

    • Prof. Neel Shah (Ariadne Labs)
    • Dr. Jishnu Das (Worldbank)
    • Prof. Lesley Page (RCOM)

Panel 2  – Supporting Healthy Birth

    • Dr. Armida Fernandez (SNEHA)  
    • Stella Mpanda (Childbirth Survival International Tanzania)
    • Maha Al-Musa (EmbodyBirth)
    • Amelia Christmas (PRONTO)

Panel 3  – Evidence and Human Rights in Indian Obstetric Medicine

    • Dr. Evita Fernandez & Indie Kaur (Fernandez Hospital)
    • Dr. Arun Gadhre (SAATHI)
    • Dr. Rinku Sengupta (Sitaram Bhartia)

DAY 3  – ACCOUNTABILITY & CHANGE  – 4, FEB 2017

Keynote Address  – Human Rights in Childbirth  – the legal framework in India

  • Prof. Asha Bajpai (UNCRC)

Panel 1  – Rethinking the Role of Midwives in the Region

    • Frances McConville (WHO)
    • Frances Day-Stirk (ICM)
    • Lancet Midwifery Series
    • Prof. Saraswati Vedam (University of British Columbia)                   

Panel 2  – Accountability & Advocacy for Change

    • Payal Shah (CRR)
    • Anubha Rastogi (Advocate, Maharashtra)
    • Sarah Malkani (Lawyer, Pakistan)
    • Purna Shrestha (Center for Reproductive Rights)
    • Sabin Shrestha (FWLD)

Panel 3  – Quality, Progress and Vision in Maternity Care

    • Dr. Aruna Uprety (Nepal) 
    • Prof. Hannah Dahlen  (University of Sydney)
    • Dr. M S Kamath

Closing Keynote  – For Richer and for Poorer – changing the landscape of Indian Maternity Healthcare, one woman at a time

  • Bashi Hazard (HRiC)

DAY 4  – COLLABORATION DAY  – 5, FEB 2017

This is a day to for attendees and speakers to work together to discuss the most valuable actions to take to ensure we put back the Human Rights in childbirth.

The questions we will be discussing are:

(a) What are the 5 priority areas that need immediate attention in maternity healthcare in the region?

(b) How will those identified priorities support and/or protect women’s human rights in pregnancy and childbirth?

(c) If you were in charge, what steps would you take to make these priority areas a reality?

HRiC is an international network of some of the most influential thought leaders who work to address global maternal and newborn health issues through the lens human rights in interdisciplinary and innovative ways. HRiC integrates the professional and political segmentation of women’s and children’s health, and advocates for recognition of the full range of human rights at stake in pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.

Birth India was initially founded in 2007 by five women in Mumbai from various nationalities. These women were looking to make a positive difference in the way women in India are cared for during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. Since inception, we have seen an increase in the presence of international childbirth education, birthing options, doulas, midwives, and lactation institutions within India. Our mission is to promote the benefits of best practices for childbirth in India by advocating for women’s reproductive rights and spreading awareness on mother-baby-friendly care.


Our partners include: Human Rights Law Network, The White Ribbon Alliance, United Nations Family Planning Association, The Tata Institute of Social Science, The Lancet and IdeaHive

Come be apart of this incredible work at the Human Rights in Childbirth Conference in Mumbai India.

Sign this petition to make it mandatory that Indian hospitals declare their c-section rates!

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