postpartum Archives - Maternity & Midwifery Forum

Developing antenatal education resources on severe perinatal mental illness

Debra12 July 2022

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......

Understanding the Healthy Start and Best Start Foods schemes

Debra12 July 202212 July 2022

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......

Midwifery Student Retention – the critical months

Debra5 July 20225 July 2022

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......

Overturn of Roe vs Wade: what happens now?

Debra5 July 20225 July 2022

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......

Developing an identity as a midwife: an impossible task?

Debra28 June 202228 June 2022

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......

What’s in a word? The importance of language in midwifery care

Debra28 June 202228 June 2022

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......

Midwifery Continuity of care: Imperative to Change

Debra21 June 202222 June 2022

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......

A fresh perspective to recruitment and retention of Newly Qualified Midwives

Debra13 June 202214 June 2022

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......

Helping midwives to put parents at the centre of their care

Debra13 June 202213 June 2022

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......

Maternity in the spotlight: HM The Queen’s Birthday honours

Debra6 June 20227 June 2022

A number of HM The Queen’s honours were conferred on midwives and those linked to the maternity services this weekend. Jenny Hall tells you about them… _______________________________________________________________ Maternity in the spotlight: HM The Queen’s Birthday honours In the UK each year, on the date of the Queen’s “official birthday”,......

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