Members of the Tampa Bay Birth Network are dedicated to nine principles:
Educating families about holistic & informed pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care so they are empowered to make personal choices with knowledge and clarity
Encouraging pregnant people to choose a midwife and a doula to assist with their pregnancy and labor
Guiding pregnant people toward holistic, alternative, and complementary care in addition to their regular prenatal and labor care
Advocating for a reduction in the number of unnecessary medical interventions
Supporting families in their new role as parents by offering resources about new parenthood, including bodyfeeding, infant sleeping, and postpartum care
Promoting body milk for at least the first year, exclusively for the first six months, per WHO and UNICEF guidelines
Maintaining the Midwives Model of Care as outlined by the Citizens for Midwifery
Maintaining the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative as laid out by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services
Supporting all people without regard to race, religion, culture, creed, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation, and in a manner that supports all reproductive choices.
Tampa Bay Birth Network Member Code of Conduct
(Tampa Bay Birth Network shall henceforth be referred to as “TBBN”)
TBBN Members are expected to treat all colleagues in an ethical, professional, and respectful manner at all times. Members should strive to promote ethical conduct within the birth professional community as a whole.
TBBN Members should demonstrate integrity and ethical standards in their personal and professional conduct. This extends not only to clients but to colleagues in their field and to the perinatal professional community as a whole.
TBBN Members are expected to make every effort to honor agreements and contracts for professional services to their clients and to provide the services that they agree to provide.
TBBN Members will not divulge confidential information received in a professional capacity from their clients, nor compromise clients' confidentiality either directly or through the use of internet media such as Facebook or blogs.
TBBN Members should make every effort to encourage their clients to assume personal responsibility for the decisions they make during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Social Networking / Internet Use Policy
We live in a technology-rich, internet-driven world. This provides TBBN Members the opportunity for networking with birth professionals of varying levels of experience. It is important to remember that our conduct on the internet (social networking sites, blogs, chat rooms, email groups, etc.) can have far reaching repercussions. TBBN Members should keep the TBBN Code of Conduct in mind when interacting with others, not just in real life, but also in virtual forums.
TBBN members are required to conduct themselves in a professional manner in all online communications that are accessible by other professionals and the public. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:
Client confidentiality must be maintained at all times.
Any pictures of clients should be posted ONLY with the express, written consent of the client.
Respect for colleagues, institutions, and other professionals (whether general categories or specific persons) should be maintained at all times.
Grievance Policy
The grievance policy was created to ensure that TBBN Members demonstrate professional behavior and ethics according to our code of conduct and standards of practice. It also is designed to protect our professional members, the families they serve, and the integrity of our professions.
All grievances against TBBN members must be emailed to TBBN with a detailed account of the event(s) or behavior in question, the name of the member, the location and date(s) of the behavior in question, statements from any witnesses, and any other pertinent evidence. TBBN reserves the right to request additional information/documentation to complete the grievance filing. All requested information must be submitted within 10 days. Incomplete grievances or grievances that fall outside the parameters of the grievance policy may be dismissed. The grievance must be filed within one year of the occurrence. TBBN expects the person(s) filing the grievance to refrain from having any further contact with the member named while the grievance is pending, except when required by law.
When the TBBN Board of Directors recieve a complete grievance filing against a TBBN member, the member will be notified by email. The notification to the member will include a copy of the grievance complaint. The member is expected to respond within 10 days to the grievance with their own account of the event(s) or behavior in question. Statements from witnesses and other pertinent evidence must be included in the response from the TBBN Member. TBBN reserves the right to request more information to complete the response prior to rendering a decision. The member involved with a grievance must not in any way contact the party filing the grievance, except when required by law.
A Grievance Committee will determine the outcome of the grievance in question. The Committee will be comprised of four TBBN Board Members who will review all evidence and accounts from both parties involved and make every effort to render a fair and impartial judgment to the best of their ability. The Committee reserves the right to delay the decision until any legal action has concluded, and to consider the outcome of any legal proceedings in the grievance hearing.
The judgment of the Committee is final and is submitted to the TBBN Board for ratification. Only the Board of Directors has the right to pass upon or mitigate the consequences of the grievance. Possible outcomes of the grievance process may include but is not limited to: cancellation of TBBN membership, the removal of any TBBN credentials, badges, and marketing assistance perks such as blog promotion and content sharing from the TBBN social media pages. The member may also be required to forfeit use of TBBN membership as a form of marketing or promotion and on social media and websites. If membership is cancelled, fees will not be refunded. If the TBBN member is found to be not at fault by the Committee, the findings of the grievance committee shall be made known to the complainant and the member exonerated. The outcomes of the grievance process are not public unless the Board feels it is necessary to publish them to clear someone’s name, and TBBN reserves the right to keep the outcome of the grievance process confidential between TBBN and the members in question only.
All TBBN Members must agree to this system of accountability prior to becoming a member of the TBBN and agree to abide by the decisions of the Grievance Committee and TBBN Board of Directors, with no right to sue for damages arising out of any perceived harm as a result of any Grievance Hearing.