Summary: Observational Cohort Study

Giving birth to a baby is the most amazing and miraculous experiences for parents and their loved ones. Every woman’s birth story is different and full of joy. Furthermore, the process from the moment a woman knows that she’s pregnant to being in the delivering room is very critical to both her and the newborn baby. Prenatal care is extremely important and it can impact greatly the quality of life of the baby. In this paper, the topic of giving birth will be discussed thoroughly by describing the stories of two mothers who gave birth in different decades and see how their prenatal cares are different from each other with correlation of the advancement of modern medicine between four decades.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE, 2007) Intrapartum guidelines state that during the first stage of labour women should be encouraged to adopt the position they feel most comfortable in. This is what the student was trying to encourage even though her mentor did not.There are various positions the woman can adopt in labour which are generally grouped into upright and recumbent. The positions classed as upright are; standing, walking, kneeling, squatting, on all fours and sitting, and the recumbent position could include; supine, lithotomy, semi-recumbent or side lying (Johnson and Taylor, 2011). The upright position appeared to be more beneficial in Sarah’s case and the author wants to determine if this is always the case. It is evident that sometimes there will be constraints such as continuous fetal monitoring but it is important that the midwife does

The purpose of this to explore the published research to critically analyse the evidence around the topic of perineal massage in the intrapartum period, and why it is important for midwives to use evidence based practice in order to provide the best possible care.

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

The author is a nurse in a level two trauma facility in a community of approximately fifty thousand people in Oregon. The community is a college-town surrounded by a large agricultural area. There is a minimal ethnic diversity within the community. The diversity present occurs mainly from internationally students and faculty from the college. There is a growing population of women who desire low interventional births in the community. The author has worked on the labor and delivery unit of the hospital for the last 14 years. The hospital is the only one in the area to offer trial of labor services to women who have previously undergone a cesarean section. The unit on average experiences around 1000 deliveries annually.

physics of birth; moving from sitting and squatting, which was used historically by midwives and

Over the years birthing methods have changed a great deal. When technology wasn’t so advanced there was only one method of giving birth, vaginally non-medicated. However, in today’s society there are now more than one method of giving birth. In fact, there are three methods: Non-medicated vaginal delivery, medicated vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery, also known as c-section. In the cesarean delivery there is not much to prepare for before the operation, except maybe the procedure of the operation. A few things that will be discussed are: the process of cesarean delivery, reasons for this birthing method and a few reasons for why this birthing method is used. Also a question that many women have is whether or not they can vaginally

According to “Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America,” women and couples planning the birth of a child have decisions to make in variety of areas: place of birth, birth attendant(s), medication, preparedness classes, circumcision, breast feeding, etc. The “childbirth market” has responded to consumer concerns, so its’ important for prospective consumers to fully understand their options. With that being said, a woman has the choice to birth her child either at a hospital or at home. There are several differences when it comes to hospital births and non-hospital births.

For almost all of the previous 25 years roughly, the knowledge of pregnancy, labor, and delivery has changed little for some women. But change is arriving to the most traditional establishing, the hospital.

Delivering a baby in the home and in the hospital both provide comfort to some, but homebirth offers decreased cost and hospital births offer more options. Some women have different birthing methods in mind when it comes to delivering a child. Some women feel that it is more convenient to stay home to deliver their child. Mothers-to-be will choose to have a hospital birth because they may feel safer or more secure knowing that if something is not right or if she has had complications, the doctor is there and she is in a hospital and everything will be okay.

Although the authors do not come right out and say it, the study focuses on a single question they quote within the introduction which states, “If there is no good reason in theory or in practice for hurrying the second stage of labor, why has the habit been prevalent for so long and why does it still exist? (p. 311)”. This appears to be the driving question behind the entire study and is only apparent once the reader has read the discussion section of the article.

Providing continuous physical and emotional support during labour can reducing maternal fear, stress, and anxiety and protect physiological birth (Steen, 2012). Research shows that fear and anxiety during labour and birth can be detrimental to physiological birth. An environment that women feel unsafe in may stimulate a surge of neuro-hormones that can influence both fetal and maternal physiology, causing irregularity of contractions, fetal distress and subsequent medical inteverntions (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Conversly, maintaining an environment where women feel safe, protected and supported can facilitate favourable physiological performance (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Midwives can do this by giving women one-on-one continuous support and placing her at the centre of care throughout childbirth (Steen, 2012). As observed in practice, by constantly reassuring the woman about her progress, her baby’s health and addressing any of her concerns, the midwife can provide a calm and relaxing environment that is conducive to the labouring woman (Buckley, 2015; Steen, 2012). The midwife worked with the woman, encouraging her throughout labour and birth by telling her that she was doing extremely well. The midwife also breathed in-tune with the woman while giving her a back massage, inducing a sense of comfort. The atmosphere was calm and this contributed to the woman garnering confidence in her ability to avoid medical pain relief. Downe (2008) noted that the positive impact of

“A scientific definition of pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage” (Lowe, 2002). Labor pain, has many different variables, physical as well as its interaction with culture and emotions, making labor pain exclusive to each individual. During the first stage of labor there is mostly visceral pain due to the dilation of the cervix. Uterine contractions may be felt as back pain because the lower back has nerves that connect to the uterus as well as the skin of the lower back.

The topic that has been chosen is what is the best management to prevent perineal trauma during labour and the long term effects perineal trauma has on women. In particular the “Hands Off or Hands On” (HOOP) technique will be researched. The reason for this chosen topic is the management of the perineum during the second stage of labour is varied and often at the preference of the midwife in attendance. Therefore student midwives are being taught

Vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) is the name used for identifying the method of giving birth vaginally after previously delivering at least one baby through a caesarean section (CS). A trial of labour (TOL) is the term used to describe the process of attempting a VBAC. An elected repeat caesarean (ERC) is the other option for women who have had a caesarean in the past. The rates of women choosing to deliver by means of an ERC has been increasing in many countries, this is typically due to the common assumption that there are too many risks for the baby and mother (Knight, Gurol-Urganci, Van Der Meulen, Mahmood, Richmond, Dougall, & Cromwell, 2013). The success rate of VBAC lies in the range of 56 - 80%, a reasonably high success rate, however, the repeat caesarean birth rate has increased to 83% in Australia (Knight et al., 2013). It is essential to inform women of the contraindications, success criteria, risks, benefits, information on uterine rupture and the role of the midwife in relation to considering attempting a VBAC (Hayman, 2014). This information forms the basis of an antenatal class (Appendix 1) that provides the necessary information to women who are considering attempting a VBAC and can therefore enable them to make their own decision regarding the mode of birth.