Informative Essay On Midwifery

As of 2013, around 353,000 babies were born in one day, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Be Fruitful and Multiply). Delivering babies is very difficult and strenuous, luckily labor and delivery nurses are trained to help care for the mother during the process of welcoming her newborn into the world safely. Labor and delivery nurses play a very crucial role in helping the delivery of babies and bringing safety and peace to the mother. I am choosing to pursue a career as a labor and delivery nurse because they get to provide care to babies, they get paid well, and they get to assist in the delivery process.

In 1946 the World Health Organisation (WHO) defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. This definition integrates the main concepts of health and identifies that health can be viewed differently by individuals and groups (Bowden, 2006). Health and well-being are the result of a combination of physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors (Dunkley, 2000a).

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) published the expected standards for pre-registration midwifery education. They stated that Student Midwives are required to assist in the care and support of several women throughout their antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum period. This is achieved via the caseload holding scheme (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2009). Midwifery led continuity of care models are described as care given during the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal period from a known and trusted midwife in order to empower a woman to have a healthy pregnancy and birth (Sandall, Soltani and Gates, 2016). In September 2005 research was published supporting midwifery-led continuity of care, which they found was linked to a number of benefits for both mothers and babies, in contrast with obstetrically led and shared care (The Royal College of Midwives, 2014).

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

For the purpose of this assignment a discussion of how the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2015a) can guide the provision of person centred nursing care will be explored. Relevant literature will be used to establish the importance of person centeredness in clinical practice and how this can be articulated by the nurse using the guidelines of the code. A conclusion will be included to summarize the findings. It is proposed that the NMC Code epitomises person centred values and by adhering to the code a nurse can provide person centred care.

Early in medical history of the United States, Doctors started a smear campaign against midwives. They were portrayed as dirty, ignorant, and for the poor. This was done in order for Doctors to retain all medical power over people. The United States puts doctors on pedestals; therefor, we believe them and blindly do as they say. When it comes to birthing, we have lost touch with our basic instincts. The hospital restricts the way women can have births, they give medicine, and induce, and drug mothers. Doctors put a time limit on a birth because medicine is a business. If

After reading the articles and the book and watching the videos I have change how I see a midwife. I never really knew what exactly they were able or prepare to do and now I feel like they are very prepare to help with the delivery of a baby. I always thought that doctors were more prepare that it was too risky to have a birth at home and with a midwife. But now I learn that that’s not always the case. Am the mother of two kids and my plan was always to have them in a hospital with the best doctors that I could find, I wanted my kids to be born in a safe environment and with people that knew what to do in case of an emergency. When I first was pregnant with my fist, I actually search the whole water birth with a midwife and I was surprise that people had an option to have kids in that environment, I though it was very interesting but I didn’t felt that it was for me.

In past centuries, only women attended to women during childbirth. Men were usually not involved, unless they were needed for their strength or other emergencies. However, with the medicalization of childbirth, the presence of male physicians emerged. By the 19th century, tensions between male physicians and midwives heightened as male physicians began to introduce new techniques and anatomical knowledge that interfered with the traditional social birthing process. Much of this tension rose from the gender roles that categorized the work and success of men and women within the work of childbirth. In A Midwife’s Tale, Laurel Ulrich explores Martha’s diary to present the challenges midwives faced during the late 18th century. Midwives, such as Martha Ballard, were challenged by male physicians and diverged from the style of their work because of the perception that omen were considered more emotional, nurturing, and social in their work while men were more knowledgeable of science, anatomy, and new tools.

According to the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNMb) (2015), home births account for 1.4% of all births in the U.S. In eight years the number of home births in the US increased by 41% (ACNM, 2015b). Providing home births falls within the scope of practice of midwives and is supported by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM, 2015b). A mother can have the option of a home birth as long as the home birth follows regulations set in place by the state and can provide a favorable safe environment for both mother and newborn (ACNM, 2015b). Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) state that the ultimate decision of having a home birth is a patient’s right, especially if she is medically well informed (Declercq, & Stotland, 2016).

Being the eldest of six siblings I became very intrigued and fascinated with Midwifery, I have come in contact with Midwives ever since the day my mother had my other siblings. I started watching all the episodes of baby ER, watching YouTube videos of doctors explaining the process by which birth is given, postnatal period and the childbearing of women which developed my knowledge and encouragement of applying for this course. Moreover seeing how caring, helpful and how Midwives played a role when my mum had given birth with my other sibling gave me a boost of how passionately I wanted to pursue midwifery has my career. Midwifery offers a diverse range of settings and also a wide range of options in order to develop a career in any direction of anyone’s interest which gave me even more confidence into wanting to study this course.

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

As there are few screening tools currently available to help midwives assess and diagnose mental health postnatally, it is important for midwives to work collaboratively with perinatal mental health services and refer women for additional support if postnatal depression is suspected. The specialised perinatal mental health teams in the UK are commonly funded by their local mental health trust. The services provided enable women and their families to access further help and advice, as well as providing detailed management plans by the team for high-risk cases. The midwife can also refer women to their local general practitioner to access treatment plans and medication for uncomplicated non-psychotic postnatal depression and anxiety. If the midwife identifies a sudden onset of symptoms

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

It was considered offensive for a man to be a part of the birthing process so it was tradition for prior mothers with extensive knowledge of herbal remedies to tend to other women during the delivery process of pregnancy. Long before medical journals or any form of education, midwives would pass their knowledge and skills down to other women on how to deliver a child. During the Colonial times, women were the only sex allowed in the delivery room, yet it was the doctors, men, that were writing information about delivering infants. As the population of doctors increased, and the popularity of hospitals emerged, more men started delivering infants. A midwifes’ social acceptance ranking in society varied in history from highly respected, to being persecuted for “witchcraft,” until laws dismissed witchcraft, and midwives were now becoming licensed. In most cases, around the 18th century, midwifery was monitored by religious or governmental institutions, and collaboration with a male doctor was usually recommended until a woman was considered low risk for any medical interventions. This collaboration was mainly a precaution to ensure that the mother was receiving the best kind of care possible due to her specific needs and wants, but with advances in pain relief and medical tools, being seen in a hospital with a doctor was a

Prenatal care is medical care for pregnant woman and is important for a healthy pregnancy. Its key components include regular checkups and prenatal testing, eating healthfully, exercising, and beginning as soon as one knows she is pregnant.