Midwifery Continutity of Care Essay

It relies on persuasive tactics to ensure compliance. Being medical-based, it aims to reduce morbidity and reduce premature mortality and is conceptualised around the absence of disease. As midwives do not regard pregnancy and child-birth as states of ill-health, its validity in midwifery care must be questioned (Dunkley, 2000a). The benefits of breastfeeding are well-documented (Appendix Two), however difficulties arise in making this information relevant and personal to each woman. Often, simply giving women ‘information’ makes little difference to them (Dunkley, 2000b).

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.,

This essay will explore why consent and confidentiallity is important in midwifery practice. It will look into why it is needed and what can happen if these aspects are breeched in anyway. The National Health service was founded in 1948, this brought free healthcare to everyone. In 1902 the Midwives act becomes a law and midwifery became an established profession, fast forward to 2004 the midwives rules and standards are published and then amended in 2012 and in 2008 the code of conduct was brought into practice. These publications are legal documents in which all nurse and midwives must abide by. In these documents there are clear rules that surround both consent and confidentiality (NHS Choices 2014)

Providing an effective care and support to the patient and for their babies during labour

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).

In this article, the authors explored the continuity of midwifery care using the caseload approach that was established in Queensland. This was to address the development of care for women experiencing inequalities and to improve birth outcomes. The authors objective was to investigate midwife’s responsibilities within their scope of practice when applying a caseload model (Midwifery Group Practice [MGP]).

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.

This report will evaluate the roles and responsibilities of a midwife. “Midwifery encompasses care of women during pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum period, as well as care of the new-born.”(WHO, 2015) This is a recent definition and clearly points out that a midwife has many roles and responsibilities. The NMC Codes of Conduct will be evaluated with specific emphasis on recent changes within healthcare. These changes took place as a result of the tragedies at Mid-Staffordshire Hospital in 2005-2009 and are the outcome of the Francis report in order to improve care given to patients.

Bernadette Ward RN, Midwife, Grad Cert Ed, MPHandTM, MHlth Sci Lecturer, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia. B.Ward@latrobe.edu.au Glenda Verrinder RN, Midwife, Grad Cert Higher Ed, Grad Dip Pub and Com Health, MHlth Sci Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia.

In this assignment we will be discussing how the Nursing and Midwifery Council NMC (2015) guides nurses in the direction of good practice. Why we have the code? Who the code is for? How to implement the code in our daily lives as practitioners. The NMC (2015) is a set of guidelines which nurses and midwives must adhere to in order to provide the best care possible to their patients. The NMC (2015) is split into four main sections:

Professional Ethics in midwifery practice is a book speaking about just that, professional ethics within the field of midwifery practice. This book addresses what ethics actually are and how they apply to the profession today. Ethics are not tied into religion rather are the moral way for professionals to interact with their clients regardless of background, religious beliefs or ethnicity. Ethics are relevant in field of the healthcare system. Ethics serve to protect both the midwife and the client by helping the profession of midwifery be a trustworthy one. If the profession is trustworthy it builds the client’s confidence of the profession. Within the topic of ethics there are four broad topics. The first being the respect of autonomy, which

This is the beginning of the mother’s involvement with the midwife. This is an opportunity for both parties to establish a personal relationship, partnership. This is where education exchange can occur, recognition of responsibilities, options and choices are determined which are supported and discussed with the mother and her supporters. (Pairman, 2010, pg. 431-432)

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).

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

MD Marden Wagner said, “In every country where I have seen real progress in maternity care, it was woman’s groups working together with midwives that made the difference.” The Marriam Webster dictionary defines midwifery as “The art or act of assisting at childbirth”. The definition is a spot-on explanation. Midwifery is not very broad; it’s pinpointed as a specific job with detailed instructions that only deal with pregnancies. Many will argue to say that midwives only work with women who are having “normal-pregnancies”.(Goer, 2002). Normal pregnancies include a healthy mother and fetus, with no complications. “Approximately 10% - 30% of pregnant women will experience Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) during their pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy happens in 1 out of 60 pregnancies. About 1% of all pregnant women will experience placental abruption, and most can be successfully treated depending on what type of separation occurs.” (Pregnancy Complications). Everyone is different, they handle pain in different ways, they have diverse fingerprints, they all have their own unique genetic material; evidently all pregnant women will experience each pregnancy they have differently from themselves and from other women. Many people will argue about the authenticity of a Certified Nurse Midwife’s education however, in reality “Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM) are registered nurses, with a minimum of a