Promoting and Facilitating Informed Choice

* 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.,

I believe as a Midwifery Student at Australian Catholic University (ACU) that childbirth is a natural life process. Within my philosophy, my aim is to provide a women-centred care based on evidence- based practice. Also the importance of supporting women with cultural variation, social circumstance and understanding other specific needs throughout the woman’s pregnancy. The women-centred care is an essential quality to a midwife as it ensure that the women is educated in healthy lifestyle choices within pregnancy, childbirth and during parenthood. This relationship of “women-centred care” is the key to midwifery practices as Australian College of Midwives (2009) refers to the philosophy of maternity care that promotes a holistic approach by recognising each women’s social, emotional, physical, spiritual and cultural needs. In retrospect, it is important to reflect on your past experiences during your midwifery practice but also your life beyond midwifery.

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).

The international Confederation of Midwives (ICM) defines the midwife as a person who has successfully completed a nationally recognized midwifery education program, is qualified for registration, and competent to practice in midwifery. As a midwifery student, I will explore the philosophies of this profession whilst working with my first continuity of care experience woman and her family. In this essay, I will examine the roles of the midwife, the scope of the practice for midwives and midwifery students, and search the value of the midwifery partnership and the importance of the woman centered care. I will also clarify the legal, professional and ethical responsibilities of the midwife in accordance with national standards and code. Analyzing

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.

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

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

One of the reasons our particular volunteering will be relevant to nursing is that we will be helping to spread information about pregnancy to those who might be unaware of the opportunities and possibilities available to them. Through this volunteering, we are helping to educate soon-to-be mothers on ways that they can avoid an abortion – saving the child’s life and comforting the mother during an emotionally stressful time. As nurses, we will

Obstetricians and midwives both have a standard that they all need to be aware of and know when working with women in antenatal, birth and post natal. They need to both be able to help assist the women in choosing a mode of care that is suitable for her needs. (Ranzcog.edu.au, 2011)

This is a bright orange book that the woman carries around with her and to every visit. The purpose of the PHR is to encourage communication and initiate continuity of care. Having access to the information of their pregnancy means women get more control and fell more fulfilled with the care they receive. (WILKINSON and MILLER, 2007) The records can be used as a reference source, to help women have a better understanding and to feel well informed, reassured, and confident in collaborating with health professionals as explanations were encouraged. (Phipps, 2001) The popularity of PHR is increasing, this could be due to growing attention on continuity of care and women centred care models. Which focuses on the woman compared to the “clinical condition” (pregnancy). (Humphrey, Tucker and de Labrusse, 2013) The PHRs are designed for the diversity of every woman, as every woman is different with varied needs (physical, emotional, cultural and religious). This method is also applicable for all types of care e.g. high risk, low risk, midwifery led care, shared care, or obstetric-led care. (Humphrey, Tucker and de Labrusse, 2013) On the other hand, the PHR can be lost easily, compromising

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

The traditional “hospital” model of birth exhibits a perspective viewing birth as a medical event, relying heavily on technology. Women often believe in the science, trusting the doctor’s knowledge and ability to monitor and deliver her child. However, the heavy reliance on technology can consciously or subconsciously convince women they are incompetent and don’t know how to birth. The “midwife” model hopes to give power back to the women and expose the unnecessary medical procedures and interventions of birthing care in hospitals. Midwives embrace the intuitive knowledge of mothers, as well as their own intuition from personal experiences and training. They strongly believe in women trusting their bodies, being interactive and allowing it to do what it is supposed to do. The traditional “hospital” model is generally lead by medical professionals who decide the processes of childbirth and have protocols to follow. Rather than letting the woman’s body move through the stages of birth naturally, births can be scheduled and are often quick to use medical interventions. These sometimes unnecessary

Yuen L & Wong VW. Gestational diabetes mellitus: challenges for different ethnic groups. World J Diabetes 2016; 6: 1024–1032.

We hope that this report will pique the interest of obstetricians as well as the midwifery staff in terms of prompt