How Prenatal Care Is Important For Both Mother And Fetus

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

Midwives identify high risked pregnancies and they make referrals to doctors and other medical specialists.

For hundred of years, women have wrestled with their womanhood, bodies, and what it means to be a woman in our society. Being a woman comes with a wonderful and empowering responsibility--giving birth. What sets us aside from other countries is that the process and expectations of giving birth has changed in our society; coming from midwifery, as it has always been since the early times, to hospitals where it is now expected to give birth at. Midwifery was a common practice in delivering babies in

Public health is defined by the World Health Organisation as ‘all organised measures to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole’ (WHO, 2015). Within this role of public health, the midwife has an essential role. They are in the best position to be able to guide

Although nurse midwives do complete the task of aiding in the delivery of newborns, “they also provide health care and wellness care to women, which may include family planning, gynecological checkups, and prenatal care” (nurse.org). Nurse midwives also assist along with physicians during c-sectional births. Certified Nurse Midwives or CNMs are advanced nurse practitioners; however, nurse midwives must earn an advanced degree, a special certification, and training in order to practice midwife duties. CNMs offer similar care to that of an OB/GYN doctor; therefore they make different financial earnings. “Nursing Economics, found that when midwives work in collaboration with physicians, the birth is less likely to end in a C-section” (nurse.org). If less c- sections are performed in hospitals, it could help lower the medical costs due to paying for medication during the labor and delivery, of a natural vaginal birth. To illustrate, nurse midwives should be more prevalent in hospitals, in order to lower the financial status of medical

In 1993 continuity of care was recognised by the government and was outlined in the department of health policy paper ‘Changing childbirth’ (DH, 1993). The document focused on choice and continuity of the care a woman should receive. Subsequently, a greater shift towards Midwifery Led Care developed. It has been suggested that a midwife should be the first point of contact for women accessing maternity services (Department of Health 2007, Welsh Assembly Government 2002, Scottish Executive 2001). Nevertheless, statics show that this was the case for only 24 percent of women in 2010, with some improvement by 2013 at 32 percent. Conversely, in 2013 63 percent of women first made contact with their family doctor (The Care Quality Commission, 2013). However 98% percent of women had their the remaining antenatal care provided by a midwife, 40% exclusively and with 60% having shared care with a GP or consultant led care (The Care Quality Commission, 2013).

Midwifery is a term that is not heard of much now because of the advances in medical technology. Midwifery is the practice of helping or assisting women during the pregnancy including during childbirth and the postpartum period. Midwifes are typically associated with home births, but can actually be used in a hospital setting. Midwifes are used all over the world and are usually the most experienced worker attending, but in many places in the United States ,such as Alabama, midwifery is illegal. Giving birth in hospitals are thought to be safer than using a midwife and birthing a child at home.With that being stated it is certainly a shock with midwifery being illegal in most states that the United States is only listed 21st in countries with the lowest infant mortality rate. Midwiferytoday.com is a website amd printed magazine that advocates for the practice of midwifery. Shea Richland, a now retired midwife and childbirth educator, has one article on midwiferytoday.com. The title of her article is Birth Rape: Another Midwife’s Story. The violent title is enough to make anyone shy away from reading it, but the title is a good reflection of the article. Shea Richland wrote the article to tell about her experiences in life, and also to explain what pushed her to becoming a midwife.

A 2009 National Guatemalan Maternal-Infant Health Survey indicates that 80-90% of indigenous expectant mothers rely on midwives for medically oriented prenatal care. Midwives

World Health Organization. (2011, November). More midwives needed to improve maternal and newborn survival. Retrieved October 25, 2017, from

The decline of home births began in the 1900’s. at the start of the century 95% of births were at home, in 1938 Half of births took place at home, and by 1955 less than 1% of births took place at home. During the early 1900’s hospitals began a smear campaign to make women believe that midwives were unfit to bring babies into the world. Women continued to go to hospitals also, for the access to painkillers, and cleaner environment, and the access to trained doctors. Now that is the way things are done. However even with the influx of technology into the medical practise, the United States have some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of a first world country.

Yes, everyone loves baby and enjoyed their pregnancy well most of everyone has. Having a baby can be very costly when a women finds out she is having a baby the first thing is to make sure your fetus is health and what ways can you keep it and you healthy. Prenatal cost is one of the first things purchase during a pregnancy, with some type of health coverage the cost can get token care of. Sometimes health plans foot half the bill so money out of your pocket will not be much. Having health coverage overall is a very important to have it is a nationwide law now that all people should have it. Prenatal care can cost up to $2,000 without health care you can buy a car with that, my first car cost $1,870 and I had money left over for other expenses.

Midwifes give the expecting mother a choice. Evidence shows that women who are choosing to seek care from a midwife do it not only for the reasons of wanting to approach childbirth in a natural way, but also because midwives let you take control of the situation- with limitations obviously. Having choice and control over your pregnancy is empowering and will usually give you a wonderful birthing experience. When a mother has a good birthing experience it will allow the mother and child to have a better relationship and will allow her to look forward to her next pregnancy. In comparisons to a doctor, a midwife allows the expecting mother to have informed choice, flexibility and choice. When a woman gets pregnant they create a birthing plan,

In Goer, Henci (1995) book “Obstetric Myths Vs Research Realities” the author reveals the roles of midwives in women delivery and how different it from the roles of an Obstetrician in a hospital setting. According to the author the midwifery attitude towards child birth is that of the mother being the “central role” in the whole scenario of child birth. The mother is the maestro in the orchestra and the midwife job is nothing less than support and guidance. The midwifery view is more of “empowering” the mother in leading the child delivery process. According to the author treatment starts with what the mother can do i.e. the mother’s potential powers and this compliments the midwifery practice. On the other hand, the author sees the medical approach to delivery very much opposite to what has been discussed as that of midwifery approach. The obstetrician sees the mother as incapable of making sound decisions on behalf of herself due to the enormous stressful situation she is going through. The author sees that the medical approach strips mother of her power to deliver naturally and that obgyn is obligated to intervene as baby delivery is a medical procedure and requires medical attention. Here the approaches are very different especially when it comes to providing care, where medical approach is more focused on medication for treating pain while midwives see that medication is “too risky and unnecessary” while alternative treatments do exist and

Global disparities in residences and households has existed for as long as society has with some households being more well off than others. The result of the financial situation of a family can determine the amount of antenatal care and delivery care provided to a mother and child, it also influences maternal mortality. The financial support of household can be the difference between a woman having access to care options and death. Women who receive at least four antenatal care sessions, the recommended about by The World Health Organisation (PROGRESS FOR CHILDREN, 2008) are far more likely to survive childbirth than woman who do not have the opportunity to have four antenatal visits. In West and Central Africa and South Asia where the disparities are at some of their largest in antenatal care, the top echelon of women ( the richest 20%) and the poorest women have vastly different attendance during antenatal can between 2010 and 2015.

Hearing the word midwife leaves many people thinking of unprofessional, inexperienced women who help deliver babies naturally, without the help of medication. In truth, nurse-midwives are registered nurses who have attended additional schooling for women’s health and are taught to make women feel as comfortable as possible. In the beginning, remedies were the females’ legacies, their “birthright”; these females were known as “wise-women by the people, witches of charlatans by authorities”. (Ehrenreich, 1973). “Females were wanderers, traveling from one place to another, healing the sick and wounded.” (Ehrenreich 1973). These women were among the first human healers and they were especially helpful when it came to childbearing. The midwives