Maternity & Midwifery Forum

Healthcare

Midwifery Feature Articles Midwifery News

Midwifery in the media: is anyone going to take notice?  

Debra
Dr Jenny Hall
It has been a week of UK midwives in the news. Sunday’s “March for Midwives” has been headline news across many local and national media outlets, even hitting some international press outlets. Organised by a team of doulas, birth supporters, lay-people and health professionals (see Kay King’s blog on this......
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Midwifery Feature Articles Midwifery News

Supporting the perinatal needs of Fathers: New resources

Debra
Supporting the perinatal needs of Fathers: New resources
International Men’s day was on the 19th November. To mark it Jeremy Davies explores the resources provided by the Fatherhood Institute to support the needs of fathers. There’s a huge lack of well-written, evidence-based information designed specifically to help men navigate their personal journeys into fatherhood – and we know......
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Midwifery Feature Articles Midwifery News

The state of health care and adult social care in England 2020/21

Debra
The state of health care and adult social care in England 2020/21
 https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20211021_stateofcare2021_print.pdf In the current backdrop of ongoing COVID 19 cases across the UK the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the current regulator for health and social care, has produced their report of the state of the services in England. Though the report is a summary across all services it does include......
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Midwifery Feature Articles Midwifery News

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month

Debra
FASD
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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Midwifery Feature Articles Midwifery News

Maternity & Midwifery Directory Launch

Debra
Directory
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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Midwifery Sector News

“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......
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Midwifery Sector News

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

Paul
Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash
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......
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Midwifery Sector News

Maternal Mental Health Problems Rising

Paul
Louis Theroux’s latest documentary ‘Mothers On the Edge’ shone a light on the terrifying realities of psychosis in new mothers – however amongst midwives and health visitors the volume of conversation around post-partum mental health has been steadily rising for some time.     In this standing-room-only seminar from the......
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