Antenatal care is the ongoing assessment of a mother and fetus during pregnancy, for the purpose of obtaining the best possible outcome for the mother and child. Throughout the antenatal period a midwife can monitor the progress of the pregnancy which will enable her to support both the maternal and fetal health and development.
In 2003 the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), published the original Antenatal Care Guideline.
The aim of the guideline was to “Offer information on best practice for baseline clinical care of pregnancies and comprehensive information on the antenatal care of the healthy woman with an uncomplicated singleton pregnancy.” NICE (2008)
By following this guideline, a midwife can ensure that she
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The pattern of antenatal care can vary greatly between trusts and although the World Health Organisation (WHO) have taken an extremely proactive approach with regards to the schedule of care that should be given, several trials have been carried out and according to Villar et al (2008), maternal satisfaction is greatly diminished when there contact with health professionals, especially there midwives is broken or changed. It is currently recommended that primiparous low-risk women like Rebecca, should receive 10 antenatal appointments and multiparous should receive seven. NICE (2008). A Cochrane review of studies conducted throughout the world suggests that 4 prenatal visits is the minimum for low-risk women Villar et al (2008).
Rebecca was keen to have a very natural pregnancy and labour and although she was nervous she suggested a home birth which was discussed at length. Rachael made every attempt to go through all options available before Rebecca made a decision as suggested by the Department of Health (2007:2009) who stated that ‘“all women should have the choice in where and how they have their baby’’. A home birth is not always best for all pregnancies as identified by Leighton & Halpern (2002) who state that many first pregnancy women wish to have an epidural and home birth midwives have limited resources in administering pharmacological pain relief.
Rebecca was debating on whether or
* Pre - birth conference was held to establish the issues surrounding the mother, her pregnancy and her parenting skills. Mother did not attend. The pre – birth conference attended by the CDAT key worker, safeguarding midwife, health visitor, GP, social worker. The pre – birth conference took place as mum was concealing her pregnancy and that she was heavily
This means recognizing each woman’s social, emotional, physical, spiritual and cultural needs. It also acknowledge that a woman and her newborn baby does not exist independently of the woman’s social and emotional environment. This includes incorporating an understanding in assessment and provision of health care (Yanti et al., 2015). The fundamental principles of women-centred care ensures a focus on pregnancy and childbirth as the start of family life, not just as isolated clinical episodes. These motherhood phases take into complete account the meaning and the values of each woman. Providing women centred care helps women make an informed choices, being involved in and having control over their own care, this also includes their relationship with their midwives (Johnson et al., 2003). This demonstrates that midwives are able to attend for women during pregnancy, childbirth and in early parenting years. In addition to this, midwives also provide education for women in order to have a healthy lifestyle (Woods et al.,
The ANMC states that midwives should promote safe and effective practice. This competency standard involves: Applying knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable woman centred care, provide or support midwifery continuity of care and manage the midwifery care of women and their babies. Midwives providing continuity of care are able to provide safe and effective practice. They know there patients well from the woman’s blood test results to the woman’s birth plan. The midwife can provide safe and effective practice because she knows the woman best. Midwifery Continuity of care is associated with a reduction in the rate of a number of interventions, without compromising safety of care (Spiby &
Being a midwife refers to a profession where the midwife would work in partnership with the women throughout her pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period. Not only is being a midwife women-centred, however, their role also includes ensuring the partner and family members are prepared and aware of the process. Within a women’s health, the midwife should focus on health, family planning, nutrition, domestic and other health issues as the main priority is the
This essay demonstrates significant factors, a midwife and the women may face within Australian public hospitals. As a midwife the key skills are understanding of what supports and impacts the normal physiological process of labour and birth. This essay will discuss two influencing factors that have a negative effect on the normal progress of labour and birth. This will be seen, firstly by discussing the cultural and environmental impacts of labour and birth. Then, examining how the midwife may best support and facilitate the adverse effects of normal physiological process. This essay also discusses a positive labour and birth environment within the Australian standard model of care.
Giving birth to a baby is the most amazing and miraculous experiences for parents and their loved ones. Every woman’s birth story is different and full of joy. Furthermore, the process from the moment a woman knows that she’s pregnant to being in the delivering room is very critical to both her and the newborn baby. Prenatal care is extremely important and it can impact greatly the quality of life of the baby. In this paper, the topic of giving birth will be discussed thoroughly by describing the stories of two mothers who gave birth in different decades and see how their prenatal cares are different from each other with correlation of the advancement of modern medicine between four decades.
Provide full antenatal care including the screening tests in the hospital, community and at home.
Within Victoria there are multiple models of maternity care available to women. An initial discussion with the woman’s treating GP during the early stages of her pregnancy is critical in her decision-making about which model of care she will choose and this key discussion is essential in allowing a woman to make the first of many informed decisions throughout her pregnancy. According to a survey conducted by Stevens et al. (2010) only 43% of women felt ‘they were not supported to maintain up-to-date knowledge on models of care, and most reported that model of care referrals were influenced by whether women had private health insurance coverage.’ Many elements of these models of care differ: from location of care, degree of caregiver continuity, rates of intervention and maternal and infant health, outcomes access to medical procedure, and philosophical orientation such as natural or medical (Stevens, Thompson, Kruske, Watson, & Miller, 2014). According to the World Health Organization (1985) and Commonwealth of Australia (2008) there is a recognition that ‘85% of pregnant women are capable of giving birth safely with minimal intervention with the remaining 15% at potential risk of medical complications’ (McIntyre & Francis, 2012).
Childbirth is one of the greatest privileges on the earth anyone could have and we, as women, should feel proud to be major contributors for it. Thus, a mother has to play a key role in aiding the healthcare workers to mitigate the health crisis associated with childbirth by performing her duties faithfully. One such associated health crisis is “Premature (preterm) birth” which occurs when the baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of gestational period (CDC, 2015). The rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born across 184 countries (WHO, 2015).
Patients should be given information regarding the importance of prenatal care and availability of prenatal care for future pregnancies.
The assignment will be written in the style of the British Journal of Midwifery (BJM), the abstract is incorporated into this introduction and Harvard 2014 will be used for the referencing style.
From the results, it is evident that the interventions were effective in increasing ANC coverage and improving other pregnancy related issues that emerged as a result of lack of or insufficient ANC. They addressed the common problems that affected the utilization of ANC, these included: maternal knowledge, accessibility to health care facilities and financial difficulties. Accordingly, as doctors and future practitioners, it is imperative that as we provide maternal and antenatal care, we structure the health care services we provide around the patient and cater to a patient's individual preferences, needs and concerns. We are advised to accommodate the patient as much as we can, which means providing them with care that is specific to them
Gathering a maternal history is a significant phase of the first antenatal appointment. This allows discoveries about many aspects of the woman and her life. Information gathered by the midwife will include family health history, maternal and paternal, as many issues connected with the father have now been discovered. () Previous pregnancies, this includes information about miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, fetal demise after birth, previous caesarian sections, place of previous births, gestation, gender, birth weight, previous multiple pregnancies, labour, birth, and postnatal details. This will give information about how the following pregnancy might develop and
Woman-centred care requires a holistic approach and should encompass all a woman’s expectations from an emotional, physical, spiritual and cultural perspective (Fahy K 2012 & Australian College of Midwives (ACM) 2016). I believe that woman-centred care is of utmost importance in all aspects of midwifery care, and I am sure that many others in the profession would share my opinion. Simple principals of woman-centred care include but are not limited to: collaborative care between health professionals, continuity of care provider, care focused on the woman’s needs and expectations before those of the institution or health professionals and ensures the woman’s autonomy and ability to make informed decisions is supported and respected (Fahy K 2012 & ACM 2016). Unfortunately in some situations, woman-centred care is not always successfully implemented. A common example is when there is an indication for Electronic Fetal Monitoring (EFM), particularly in the intrapartum period
Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily