Roles And Responsibilities Of A Midwife

Being a midwife does not only defined by assisting women in childbirth. The general dictionary definition are the misconception of how people view midwives. Being a midwife means to be ‘with women’ and this leads the construction of the midwifery philosophy, Page (2006) 5 steps and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) competency standards, in order to provide the best women centred care (Australia Collage of Midwives, 2017). This essay will cover a constructive overview of what Page (2006) 5 steps of being a midwife means, it will also defined what women centred care is and emphasis on the importance it has for the woman. Understanding Page (2006) 5 steps and women centred care helped build the pathway for midwifery philosophy to correlate with NMBA competency standard in order to support midwifery practice. For

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)

The Australian College of Midwives believes that it is the right of every pregnant woman to have access to continuity of care by a known midwife for her pregnancy, labour and early postnatal period. Midwives are the most appropriate primary care providers for healthy mothers and newborn babies and are able to refer to specialist medical care if the need arises (Hicks, Spurgeon & Barwell, 2003). Midwives must work within the competency standards enforced by The ANMC Australian Nursing & Midwifery Council (2006) in order to obtain and practice as a registered midwife in Australia. Competency 4 states Midwives should “promote safe and effective practice” (ANMC, 2006), this is achievable by providing Midwifery continuity of care to women and

Every health professional has a legal obligation to patients. Nurses as part of the health care team share an important role in the quality and safe delivery of patient care. They have the major responsibility for the development, implementation and continuous practice of policies and procedures of an organisation. It is therefore essential that every organization offer unwavering encouragement and resources to support their staff to perform their duty of care in every patient. On the other hand, high incidences of risk in the health care settings have created great concerns for healthcare organizations. Not only they have effects on patients, but also they project threat to the socioeconomic status. For this reason, it is expected that all health care professionals will engage with all elements of risk management to ensure quality and safe patient delivery. This paper will critically discuss three (3) episodes of care from the case study Health Care Complaints Commission [HCCC] v Jarrett [2013] Nursing and Midwifery Professional Standards Committee of New South Wales [NSWNMPSC] 3 in relation to Registered Nurse’s [RN] role as a leader in the health care team, application of clinical risk management [CRM] in health care domains, accountability in relation to clinical governance [CG], quality improvement and change management practices and the importance of continuing professional development in preparation for transition to the role of RN.

This importance of compassion is highlighted in numerous healthcare documentations which state that nurses should provide care that is compassionate (Francis 2013). An incident which occurred in a general hospital in Staffordshire over 50 months between January 2005 and March 2009 led to between 400 and 1200 patients dying due to poor care. Robert Francis published his report on the failings of Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust which examined causes of the incidents. Since this incident the issue of patent safety and care quality has been in the public eye more than ever. The Francis report has made 290 recommendations which include; openness and transparency throughout the healthcare system, essential standards for healthcare providers, improving compassionate care and stronger healthcare leadership. It is also essential to focus and provide increased education and training on compassionate care (Francis

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).

The NMC has a code of professional conduct, standard for conduct, performance and ethics, the code clearly states the need for nurses, midwives as well as special community public health nurses to maintain their professional knowledge and competence in order to deliver care based on current evidence, best practice and where applicable (NMC 2004, p.10). Hence, nursing profession is regulated by the NMC which has

In this Assignment, we will be looking at and discussing how the Nursing Midwifery Council’s Code (NMC) can guide the provision of person centred nursing care. What is the NMC’s Code? NMC Code is a list of professional requirements that which the nurses and midwives needs to adhere in order to practice in United Kingdom. This Code also helps the nurses and midwives to maintain their professional standards throughout their career. The Code is divided into four important sections. The sections are Prioritise people, Practise effectively and Preserve safety and Promote professionalism and trust (NMC 2015).

The NMC code states that the guidelines were not only set by them themselves but what the general public expect from nursing healthcare professionals. The NMC code changed its standards and expectations in February of 2015 as a result of the Francis report (2013) being published and exposing the appalling conditions of the Staffordshire hospital; the nursing and midwifery council then decided that it was paramount for the code to be revised so as there was no grey areas where the health care professionals were unsure of what standard of care they were expected to uphold and deliver to anyone in their care. The Royal College of Nursing RCN (2015) would describe person centred care as allowing a person to be equal in their care and to empower them to make informed choices about their care plans, it would suggest that the service users should be

Supporting, guiding and empowering women throughout their entire pregnancy, from the months leading up to the birth, labour itself and the postnatal period fascinates me. It is rare in other medical careers to form such strong connections over a large span of time, with not only the patient but also their partners and families. I have always been viewed as hardworking and dedicated, with the ability to work autonomously and in a group, something that is essential for midwives. My positive attitude to learning has been rewarded with leadership roles of house captain and school prefect. Currently I am completing an A level in Biology and studying Health and Social Care at AS level, both of which have been chosen specifically with Midwifery as a future focus. My A-level studies in Spanish, English and

During my journey, I worked with qualified midwives observing deliveries in natural births and caesareans sections. It also helped me to understand the different roles in postnatal and antenatal clinics. This life experience has given me crucial skills of teamwork, observation skills and working with the client's family. I also volunteered in a mother and baby unit in Birmingham by working with women who have suffered from postpartum psychosis. This helped me to understand some of the complications of postpartum and the ways of assisting the woman. It has also aided me to enhance my interpersonal skills and how to promote respect and dignity. From this, I was able to link theory to practice in this case to my equality, diversity and rights module in health and social care. This has facilitated me to understand more about supporting vulnerable women and their families. Moreover, studying anatomy and physiology has also prepared me to gain significant knowledge on childbirth and different changes that women go through during pregnancy, which will be beneficial in studying

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

As an individual’s ethics will play a large part in their practice, there are specific guidelines and legislation that exist to ensure that nurses, as well as other health professionals, practice in a way that is ethical (Avery, 2013). These laws further exists to attempt to simplify the ethical issues that sometimes present in nursing practice and to attempt to guide one’s actions. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) provides guidance to nurses by providing a number of professional codes and guidelines (Avery, 2013). The NMBA has developed a code of ethics for nurses comprising of eight codes (Avery, 2013). These are as follows; 1) Nurses value quality nursing care for all people; 2) Nurses value respect and kindness for self and others;

At the age of 16 years, I remember I have always said to my friends and family I want to start my own family by the age of 21 and as fate would have it or one might say its just a cliché, I was pregnant with my first baby at the age 21 years. With no idea of what is to come during those nice months I was pregnant, and especially the anticipation of labour and what it would be like, how to go about, if any difficulties may happen and so many thoughts was running through my minds during those months of pregnancy and these thoughts gets even intense as I approached my expectant due date (EDD). I had to put my faith and trust in the professional care and advice I was offered by healthcare teams, most especially the midwives that were of assistance

The midwife as distinguished by Leap (2009) research of the women centred relationship and the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) (2016a) defines the midwife role as meeting “each woman’s social, emotional, physical, spiritual and cultural needs, expectations and context as defined by the woman herself” (para. 7). ACM position the midwife as the primary profession for quality maternity care founded during training, through the direction of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) “Code of Professional Conduct For Midwives In Australia” (CPC) and reinforced by the “Code of Ethics For Midwives In Australia” (ACM, 2015; NMBA, 2008a; 2008b). The boundaries as outlined in the NMBA “CPC” along with meeting the educational