Maternity & Midwifery Forum

Compassion is our name: Birmingham doula charity supports vulnerable women

Debra
In 2018, two friends put their dreams into action. Hope Plumb, a doula and personal trainer/fitness instructor, and Amelia Sommers, a doula and dance movement psychotherapist, had been dreaming up a way to support isolated and vulnerable women in Birmingham through pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. After months of......
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Developing antenatal education resources on severe perinatal mental illness

Debra
Postpartum Psychosis is a severe postnatal mental illness affecting around 1 in 500 women. Naomi Gilbert, Campaigns & Policy Coordinator for the charity Action on Postpartum Psychosis points out that few parents are informed about the signs of the condition during antenatal education. She describes some of the concerns and......
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Understanding the Healthy Start and Best Start Foods schemes

Debra
In recent months the Healthy start and Best start food schemes have moved to being digital. Many eligible families are not receiving the benefits. Dr Jenny Hall explains the scheme for midwives to share with those who need them. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Understanding the Healthy Start and Best Start Foods schemes In......
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Midwifery Student Retention – the critical months

Debra
Midwifery Student Retention – the critical months These are critical months for midwifery student retention.   As year-end approaches, among challenging news headlines and serious morale issues in the profession, what can we do to lift engagement and motivate staff and students to stay and refresh? Student engagement and retention are......
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Overturn of Roe vs Wade: what happens now?

Debra
In this article Dr Jenny Hall, Midwifery editor for the Maternity and midwifery forum, reflects on the overturn of the abortion law Roe vs Wade in the constitution of the United States (US) and the potential impact.   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Overturn of Roe vs Wade: what happens now? This......
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Developing an identity as a midwife: an impossible task?

Debra
Becoming a midwife is time of evolving and developing! In this article Nicole Rajan-Brown, Third-year student midwife, University of Salford and Editor-in-Chief, The Student Midwife Journal shares some helpful tips of how to step through this minefield and develop a personal midwifery identity.   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Developing an identity......
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What’s in a word? The importance of language in midwifery care

Debra
Over many years there has been questioning of the use of language across maternity services, particularly in relation to birth. The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) undertook a widely consultative project to establish the best choice of language that would provide clarity.  Dr Mary Ross-Davie, Director of Midwifery at NHS......
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Midwifery Continuity of care: Imperative to Change

Debra
Developing maternity services to provide continuity of care is national policy across the four countries of the United Kingdom. In this article Trixie McAree, National lead for Continuity of Carer with Alana Hunt, regional lead for Continuity East of England, they explore the background for this policy and how the......
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A fresh perspective to recruitment and retention of Newly Qualified Midwives

Debra
The theme of the shortage of midwives in the UK continues across media and political outputs. A key concern is that many are leaving who have been less than 5 years in the profession. In this article Judi Smith, and Jan Bentley, Preceptorship Lead Liverpool Women’s Hospital, share how the......
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Helping midwives to put parents at the centre of their care

Debra
Caring for parents who have experienced the death of a baby is an important role for midwives, student midwives and other members of the multidisciplinary team. In this article Clare Worgan, Sands’ Head of Training and Education, writes about the importance of bereavement care to parents, how training helps healthcare......
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