Maternity & Midwifery Forum

maternity

Midwifery Sector News

International Maternity Expo awards shortlist announced

Paul
Photo by Jingda Chen on Unsplash
The first round of judging is over and the shortlist for the first ever International Maternity Expo awards is revealed. Take a look at who has made the cut!       Over the last 12 months the team behind the International Maternity Expo have been scouring the globe in......
Read more
Midwifery Sector News

How to deal with stress and build resilience within the healthcare profession through laughter!

Paul
LOL Laughterworks first presented – or perhaps performed – at the Midlands Maternity & Midwifery Festival in 2019 but were such a hit that they quickly became a fixture! Laughter is clinically proven to help alleviate depression, anxiety and stress – and best of all, a fake laugh is as......
Read more
Midwifery Sector News

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......
Read more
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......
Read more
Midwifery Feature Articles

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination at work

Paul
Discrimination
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......
Read more
Midwifery Sector News

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......
Read more
Midwifery Feature Articles

New report spotlights how housing problems jeopardise women’s rights to safe maternity care

Paul
Photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash
A report published recently by the charities Birth Companions and Birthrights highlights the need for a more proactive, integrated approach to addressing the maternity care needs of women experiencing multiple disadvantages during pregnancy and early motherhood. Through in-depth interviews with women and professionals, the research found that, in almost every......
Read more
Midwifery Sector News

“Behaviour is an invisible cloak that you think nobody can see… Embroider your cloak with love, kindness, goodwill, integrity, truth and honour”

Paul
England’s first Chief Midwifery Officer was appointed earlier this year. The appointment marked a shift in maternity and midwifery care in the NHS both towards midwife-led care for women and towards midwives becoming an ever-more self-governing group.   In this presentation, Jennifer ‘Jenny the Midwife’ Clarke explains that a true......
Read more
Midwifery Sector News

“We felt so in awe of [our midwife]… We felt that she was so special.”

Paul
We’ve all heard of ‘Continuity of Carer’ in midwifery – it is a key component of the NHS’ move towards Better Births. Not so long ago, the (private) continuity of care service Neighbourhood Midwives in Walthamstow made the news when it closed unexpectedly, to the consternation of many expectant parents. ......
Read more
Midwifery Sector News

Normal Birth…What’s going on?

Paul
In most contexts, ‘normal’ is a boring word – but within the world of maternity and midwifery it is a contentious one. Between them, Sheena Byrom OBE and Professor Soo Downe OBE have some 75 years of experience in midwifery practise.  Many of those years have been spent actively researching......
Read more