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[Description: 1.2 SiteBuziosIng copy.png] The 9th International Normal Birth Research Conference will bring to the forefront the challenges facing the promotion of normal labour and birth, particularly in Brazil, a country struggling with epidemic rates of unnecessary caesarean sections, and the bridges we must build to ensure high quality women-centred care. We look forward to welcoming you to Brazil for the 2014 Normal Labour and Birth - 9th International Conference at Armação de Búzios, 10 - 13 October, 2014 (http://normalbirthbrazil.com/?lang=en We welcome submission of abstracts for consideration for the conference: please click here for more details: http://normalbirthbrazil.com/call-for-papers/?lang=en The 2014 Normal Labour and Birth Conference in Brazil will bring an innovation. Following the 9th International Research Conference in Armação dos Búzios, Rio de Janeiro will host the Echoes of the Conference: Normal is Natural, from Research to Action, held from 14 - 16 October, and will receive a wider public estimated at 2000 people - health care professionals, birth activists, as well as users of health care (http://echoes.normalbirthbrazil.com/?lang=en). Brazil is one of the countries where rapid economic growth in recent years has been accompanied by extraordinary increases in childbirth interventions, most notably caesarean sections (54% CS rate in 2012), with growing concerns over the medicalization of birth and corresponding potential links with higher maternal/perinatal mortality and morbidity. A policy initiative by the Ministry of Health launched in March 2011, the Stork Network (Rede Cegonha), creates a nationwide effort to reduce infant and maternal mortality. The Stork Network is composed of a set of measures to guarantee to all Brazilians in the public health system (SUS) appropriate, safe and humane care from confirmation of pregnancy, through the first two years of the baby's life, by building a network of primary care services for women and children. Current policy includes recommendations regarding care pathways for low-risk pregnancies, a discussion about normal birth and the Stork Network's definition of 'normal birth' with details of the inclusion and exclusion criteria to enable accurate registration for comparison. The focus of the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Brazilian Association of Midwives and Obstetric Nurses (ABENFO), is to further develop strategies to improve maternal and infant health, reduce unnecessary interventions at birth and improve normal birth rates by strengthening midwifery care systems, including the implementation of 280 midwifery-led birth centres.