Maternity & Midwifery Forum

“You shouldn’t have to feel you’re pushing your pregnancy aside…”

Paul
“Even when you account for ethnicity, substance misuse, smoking – an out-of-home [situation] or housing instability leads to a low birth-weight baby.”   Being pregnant whilst homeless throws up a unique set of challenges. Pregnant women who become homeless have priority need for accommodation, according to government guidance, but problems......

Baby Buddy: embracing the power of evidence, innovation and collaboration to reduce child health inequalities

Paul
Alison Baum OBE, Chief Executive of Best Beginnings gives a plenary presentation discussing “Baby Buddy: embracing the power of evidence, innovation and collaboration to reduce child health inequalities” at the Scotland Maternity & Midwifery Festival 2018. To find out more about Best Beginnings please visit: https://www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/...

Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome during pregnancy, birth and beyond

Paul
After the actor and activist Jameela Jamil mentioned her Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in an Instagram comment in February and was later presented with an award by the Ehlers-Danlos Society for being a patient advocate, a lot of fans were left scratching their heads. Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) is a relatively unknown......

Midwifery a global update, what this means for normal labour and birth

Paul
At the World Health Assembly this year, 194 member states agreed unanimously to put nursing and midwifery at the centre of achieving Universal Health Coverage. It’s a first in world health. They also declared 2020 ‘the Year of the Nurse and the Year of the Midwife’ and pledged to focus......

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work

Paul
Maternity and pregnancy discrimination is unfortunately still very common, what advice can midwives give to women who are experiencing discrimination or unfair treatment? Here we explain how to negotiate an exit from an employer. You can also read our separate page: 10 tips for returning from maternity leave. What is......

Optimizing the use of Caesarean Section

Paul
In October 2018, The Lancet published an epidemiological report   on global use of caesarean sections – it put the UK figure at just over 26% of all births.  This comes, perhaps not coincidentally, at a time when tokophobia (the extreme fear of birth) seems to be on the rise.......

Midwifery: a global update, what this means for normal labour and birth

Paul
Fran McConville, Midwifery Advisor at the World Health Organisation gives a presentation discussing “Midwifery: a global update, what this means for normal labour and birth” at the 14th International Normal Labour and Birth Research Conference. The full box set of videos from this conference are available to view here....

Getting it right the first time – Holding on to labour

Paul
Many pregnant women – especially those who have given birth before – have an innate sense of when they’ve gone into labour ‘for real’.  However, if they show up to the labour ward of their local or chosen hospital too soon, they run the risk of being sent home where......

Black Breastfeeding Week Celebration: Breaking Barriers & Uplifting Education

Paul
1-2-1 Doula & Breastfeeding Support Ltd will be celebrating Black Breastfeeding Week 2019 by hosting their 2nd public event in the UK. This is going to be a fun, interactive, educational and informative event. Everyone is welcome! There will be: Special Guest Speakers Q&A Sessions Creative Workshops Comedy / Poetry......