Australian Midwifery最新文献

The literature suggests that midwives strongly influence parenting practices immediately after birth and during early postnatal management of the newborn. Midwives must therefore be aware of the current evidence and public health recommendations for reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and provide consistent information about use of the supine position. Midwives must also include information about environmental factors that are also known to increase the risk of SIDS such as exposure to cigarette smoke, covering the infant's face during sleep and other potential unsafe sleeping practices such as co-sleeping and bed sharing with their infant.

The position midwives use to settle infants and place them for sleep is an important example for parents. The position favoured by midwives when placing a newborn to sleep will have a significant impact on parental practice after discharge home. A standardised evidenced based approach to the SIDS Guidelines immediately after birth will facilitate consistency in practice and uniformity in the message parents are given about safe sleeping practices for their newborn infant.

Despite the near universal attendance of fathers at childbirth there is comparatively little research on men's experience of this event. This is accompanied by scant focus on men during childbirth education and during labour. To bridge this gap between practice and research a narrative literature review was conducted. For this purpose, a range of electronic databases were researched for the keywords “fathers/men and childbirth”.

Key Findings: Most men find childbirth both wonderful and distressing. They often don't live up to their expectations and are confused about their role. Focusing childbirth education and hospital practices more on men's needs may reduce their distress levels and improve both maternal and paternal satisfaction.

Childbirth may produce anxiety symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women, but little is known about ways to reduce this distress. This study explored women's views of counselling strategies that may facilitate recovery following a traumatic birthing experience. A focus group interview with six women was analysed to reveal recurring themes. Four themes that relate to counselling processes were identified: opportunities to talk about the birth, develop an understanding of events, explore alternative courses of action, and discuss future childbearing. Counselling approaches need to incorporate the unique characteristics of the childbirth context and specific needs of women.

This study explored midwives' views of counselling strategies that may facilitate recovery following a traumatic birthing experience. Focus group interviews with 16 midwives were analysed to reveal recurring themes. Three themes that relate to counselling processes were identified: opportunities to talk about the birth, develop an understanding of events, and minimising guilt. There is considerable overlap between the views of these midwives regarding postpartum counselling processes and those identified in the literature, but also key areas of difference. Midwives may be unaware of the depth of exploration needed by women when reviewing their birth experience and specific content areas that should be addressed.

This article reports on the development and implementation processes associated with an inhouse accredited program for midwifery-led maternal final assessment which has been in existence for 12 months in a large outer metropolitan hospital in NSW. The impetus for the program was two-fold: an improved service to parents who wish to have mother and baby go home at their own convenience but also with the support of accredited staff, and, increased job satisfaction for midwives. The article details the policy development and educational processes involved in launching such a program along with the issues encountered along the way.