Practising Midwife最新文献

It is well established that maternal smoking can result in serious health consequences. Smoking cessation interventions for pregnant women can effectively reduce the rate of maternal smoking and consequently prevent perinatal morbidity. Although motivation is high for women in pregnancy to stop smoking, few achieve this status on their own. The support available varies throughout the country; this article describes the service available in Fife, Scotland. Support is provided by two specialist midwives and is funded by the Scottish Government. It is one of the few midwife-led services available in Scotland. Home visits are the foundation of its success, enabling engagement with women in areas of deprivation. Individualised care is provided and extended to partners and other family members who are interested in stopping smoking.

December 7th 2016 saw the launch of the third annual MBRRACE-UK Saving lives, improving mothers' care report; a report which provides us with a picture of maternal deaths in the UK between 2012-14 and information on the lessons learned from the UK and Ireland confidential enquiries into maternal deaths and morbidities between 2009-14. Globally, maternal deaths have fallen by over half since the introduction of the millennium development goals in 1990. Although short of the global target to reduce such maternal deaths by three quarters by the year 2015 (United Nations (UN) 2015), maternal deaths within the UK are, in fact, a rare event. This year's report calculates reduction in deaths from previous years to a rate 8.5 death per 100,00 maternities compared to last year's nine deaths per 100,000 maternities. Although not a statistically significant decrease, it is a promising reduction. Here, the key recommendations for practice outlined in the report are summarized in an attempt to further reduce such morbidity and mortality rates in the future.

This article evaluates the results of physiological breech birth (PBB) study days provided by breech Birth Network (BBN). An expanded version of this article, with further details including the statistics and additional information about the content of the training, is available on our website. This paper reports an evaluation of the BBN PBB training programme, which has been developed out of consensus research, with highly experienced health professionals. The training was delivered in four National Health Service trust hospitals in the north and south of England throughout the spring and summer of 2016. The evaluation involved pre- and post-training surverys containing a mixture of open-ended and multiple-choice questions, and rating scales. Data were analysed descriptively. The results indicated that the training addressed the concernsof the participants and was rated highly in expected usefulness for practice. Significant improvements in self-reported confidence and objectively assessed knowledge were observed. Participants found discussions and hands-on practice accompanying videos helpful, and reported concerns about lack of support and involvement of obstetric colleagues both before and after the training. The package is an effectively designed and replicable programme for introducing PBB practice to health care professionals.

Safeguarding children is arguably one of the most challenging areas of the midwife's role. At a time when there is a national midwifery shortage and a rising birth rate, resources are stretched more than ever (Dabrowski 2016). Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility (Department for Education (DfE) 2015), but has become a much more significant part of the midwife's role and workload over recent years (Halsall and Marks-Moran 2014). Student midwives, newly qualified and experienced midwives alike must have the required level of understanding of the principles, processes and accompanying orders, to appropriately protect children (Griffiths 2009). This article explores safeguarding practice from a midwifery perspective, which includes looking again at the fundamental, basic principles of midwifery in order to advance practice further.

The midwifery profession can be traced back over thousands of years. Globally, midwives have expressed noticeable changes to their role over the years, and the impact on childbearing women (Larsson et al 2009; Mavalankar and Vora 2008; Dickerson et al 2014). During this time the midwifery profession has battled continuously against external pressures and this, in turn, has shaped the role of the midwife and the midwifery profession as a whole. This article will provide an insight into the history of midwifery; the challenges both midwives and the midwifery profession have faced; how these challenges have changed; and how this has assisted the development of the 'modern day midwife'. Of course this could not be discussed without acknowledging the continuing impact on childbearing women in the United Kingdom and globally.

The UK stillbirth and neonatal mortality rate has fallen by a fifth in the last decade; however, stillbirth rates continue to be among the highest of high-income countries.The Government wants to halve the rate of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in England by 2030, with a 20 per cent reduction by 2020 (O'Connor 2016). MBRRACE-UK runs the Maternal, Newborn and Infant Clinical Outcome Review Programme (MNI-CORP). Maternity units should notify all maternal deaths, stillbirths, perinatal deaths and infant deaths to MBRRACE-UK, who analyse the data and publish surveillance reports. Here, findings from the surveillance reports about congenital diaphragmatic hernia, perinatal deaths and stillbirths are reviewed, and recommendations made for practice.

Becoming a midwife is the 16th series of 'Midwifery basics'targeted at practising midwives and midwifery students. The aim of these articles is to provide information to raise awareness of the impact of professionalism on women's experience, consider the implications for midwives' practice and encourage midwives to seek further information through a series of activities relating to the topic. This article looks at the need for a Disclosure and barring service (DBS) check; issues that can arise through this are used to demonstrate challenges that may affect students during recruitment or while awaiting clearance. This shows how the public are protected during recruitment procedures.

Peer led teaching (PLT) is a method whereby one group of students is involved in the teaching of another (McKenna and French 2011). Whilst almost all universities worldwide offer some form of peer support for learning, the lack of available literature suggests that peer teaching is not well integrated into pre- registration midwifery education. This article explores the experiences of both second- and third-year student midwives involved in a peer teaching initiative as part of preparation for an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) assessment. Third year students acted as peer teachers for small groups of second year students learning new practical skills related to the management of maternity emergencies. The findings of this evaluation suggest significant benefits of PLT for both groups of students.

Maternity services liaison committees (MSLCs) have a long history but were affected by 2013 health reforms. An online survey of heads of midwifery (HoMs) and service users was conducted to assess how many NHS trusts in England had a functioning MSLC and whether they were supported by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and working with Healthwatch, the new statutory consumer advocate. Results showed that at least 62 per cent of trusts had an MSLC. However, support from commissioners varied widely. Around two fifths of MSLCs had administrative support provided by the CCG or their local NHS trust. One in eight MSLCs had a budget including an allowance for the Chair. Some MSLCs were struggling to continue, due to little or no support. Both HoMs and service users wanted commissioners to provide more consistent support for MSLCs. One in five MSLCs had a clear link with Healthwatch. This is a legacy to underpin the transition to CCG-funded MaternityVoices Partnerships in 2017.