MASIP: Comprehensive Birthing Care Model

Claudia Uribe & Aixa Contreras, UC Medicine

Excessive medicalization of childbirth marked by interventionist models and high C-section rates have pushed family members away and made the pendulum swing in the opposite direction resulting in the need for more personalized childbirth experiences. This project has proven that you can boost quality indicators by following the Comprehensive Birthing Care Model (MASIP in Spanish) which sets out to provide women with better care during childbirth. MASIP offers women an integral, safe, personalized alternative with a great deal of family involvement, in an appropriate setting marked by less intervention.

Created by UC researchers from the Nursing, Medicine and Design Departments, the model is designed for women with low risk pregnancies, labor and post-partum. MASIP involves providing a comprehensive care birthing room meeting all safety standards, equipped with site-available technology, and that looks and feels more like a home than a hospital room. Warm tones, the right temperature and an intimate setting house an adjustable bed that can be adapted to find the right position (horizontal, vertical) for every stage of the childbirth process. Moreover, the comprehensive birthing room is equipped with a birthing tub, medicine ball, sound system and other amenities. The mother and her family members of choice are accompanied by the birthing team during the entire process.