Maternity & Midwifery Forum

Love That Birth Physiology

Debra
Gaining knowledge of the anatomy and physiology around birth is an important aspect of a student midwife’s programme of education. It is also important to understand how the actions midwives take is related to the physiology. Molly is creator and teacher of the “Biomechanics for birth” courses, as well as......
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Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month

Debra
September is international FASD Awareness month, with FASD Day falling on 9th September, signifying the 9 months of pregnancy. This FASD Month, we are calling on people to ‘Think Differently’ about FASD.   “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a lifelong disability that affects the brain and body of people......
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Maternity & Midwifery Directory Launch

Debra
For maternity and midwifery services in the UK the pandemic seemed to make time stand still, if not go backwards. Home births cancelled, water births restricted, limited visitors (fathers were never allowed in when I was born). But time did not stand still.  Maternity and midwifery is going through its......
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A Holding Time Project call to arms: a collective portrait of breastfeeding

Debra
During National Breastfeeding week at the start of August Improving Me, the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s Women and Children’s Partnership launched the Holding Time Project. This involved a call for participants in an inter-disciplinary, multi-channel art project, developed by visual artist Lisa Creagh on behalf of the partnership. The focus......
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How do NHS midwives facilitate women’s alternative physiological births?

Debra
In the print and social media heated debates have often taken place over interventions during birth. Some women and birthing people only want medicalised care where there is another group who want to choose less intervention birth. In this talk Claire discusses her PhD research, during which she explored how......
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It’s time to get equality in vaccinations

Debra
As the summer months progress here in the UK, there continue to be reverberations in the press and on social media about COVID-19 and vaccines. Writing today, rates continue to rise, with another 230,800 testing positive within the last week. The vaccination rate for the adult population has 88% for......
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Centred birth, hypnobirthing classes and preparing for birth during COVID

Debra
It has been challenging for pregnant women and birthing people over the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we know many resources were cut, including face-to-face preparation for birth groups. In this talk, “A lot more anxious and a lot more lonely” vs “more empowered: centred birth hypnobirthing classes and......
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Nutrition and eating well from pre-conception to age five

Debra
First Steps Nutrition Trust: Celebrating 10 years providing independent, evidence-based information on nutrition and eating well from pre-conception to age five to support the work of UK health care professionals First Steps Nutrition Trust is a UK-focused, independent public health nutrition charity predominantly working in the early years. We’re 10......
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Midwifery students’ experiences of being bullied on placement

Debra
Bullying and mistreatment of students, and other members of the maternity team, has been an ongoing challenge across health services, both nationally and abroad. Tanya Capper, a midwifery educationalist from Australia, presents a study on the experiences of student midwives on clinical placement in the UK. The process of the......
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Climate Change for Maternity and Midwifery

Debra
A hostile environment is growing towards midwifery. Death threats on social media to the General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives. Royal Colleges write to the Times deploring abuse of staff. Midwives and their allies need to support the RCM and their General Secretary Gill Walton. How has it......
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