Abbotsford is among more than 100 cities across North America that will take part in the Rally to Improve Birth on Monday, Sept. 1.
The local Labour Day rally runs from 10 a.m. to noon at Mill Lake Park near the water park.
The purpose is “to call attention to the dire state of our maternal health-care system and to call for evidence-based, humane birth practices,” organizers say.
They say that maternity care in B.C. is in a crisis, with the Cesarean birth rate climbing each year, a continuing shortage of available midwives and doctors, understaffed hospitals, and routine interventions in labour and birth that increase the risk of harm to mothers and babies.
The event is being hosted by the Improving Birth organization, which serves as an advocacy group to support mothers in accessing the “highest quality information about their care, and in helping them to find providers who practise evidence-based, respectful care,” according to its website.
For more information visit improvingbirth.org.