Practising Midwife

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Report review runs alongside Guideline commentary and the other evidence series articles, examining local, national and international reports that have implications directly or indirectly for midwives. It helps readers to understand what reports mean for midwifery practice and to place report recommendations into context. As with all our evidence series articles, report reviews support you to critique recommendations and implications for your own practice. In 2016, Ireland launched its first ever maternity strategy (Department of Health (IDH) 2016)...

Most women within their lifetime will experience pregnancy, birth and motherhood. Despite this almost universal experience, the process is far from uniform. Throughout the childbirth continuum, expectations and experiences of women are diverse and ever-changing (van Teijlingen et al 2017). THis article explores an innovative idea, well placed within this 'Shiny roads' edition of The Practising Midwife. It explores the birth of the EMPOWER project within a NHS trust. EMPOWER was developed to empower mothers and provide options, education and relaxation for pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period...

In this article I discuss the value and importance of presentation skills for midwives and offer recommendations for how to enhance these skills in practice. My aim is to support your development and confidence in delivering presentation. I include a series of practical tips to help you improve your preparation, content and delivery of future presentations, for greater personal confidence and impact.

The Midwifery Unit Network (MUNet) is a community of practice which aims to promote and support the implementation and improvement of midwifery units (MUs) in the UK and internationally. It was launched in April 2016 and has been growing fast since its inception. In this article, three co-leads of MUNet describe why they set up the network and how they established it. The aim of the article is to inspire more midwives to consider establishing a community of practice, and to offer some guidance in doing so.

Becoming a midwife is the 16th series of 'Midwifery basics' targeted at practicing midwives and midwifery students. The aims of these articles is to provide information to raise awareness of the impact of professionalism on women's experience, consider the implications for midwives' practice and encourage midwives to seek further information through a series of activities relating to the topic. In the final article of the series, Jancis Shepherd explores some of the challenges of becoming an accountable practitioner...

This occasional series aims to share, discuss and promote midwifery in a global context. Midwifery is a truly global profession and even those of us who work solely in the UK will care for women from many different cultures; these articles reflect the experiences of midwives and students working in both the UK and in Asia, Australasia, Africa and Europe. The first few articles of the series have been developed by students undertaking a global maternity module at The University of Leeds. Each of these articles will be presented in a two-part format: a feature in print and an accompanying reflection hosted on our website...

Guideline commentary is a series to help readers make sense of published guidelines by offering a detailed appraisal of a guideline, or a specific section of a guideline, in a careful and considered manner. In doing so we can advance our knowledge and understanding of reviewing guidelines to inform our practice.This process is designed to assess the usefulness of the guideline and underpinning evidence, in terms of decision making and implications for practice.

Consider the impact on your pregnancy, birth and puerperium of living in a remote or rural area. A substantial minority of people in Scotland live in such areas, which has considerable implications for provision of health services and the staff at the front line of the profession. In the winter of 2011, Jo Lironi joined the team of midwives at Caithness General Hospital (CGH) in the North East Highlands of Scotland. Four years later, the process to review the model of care on grounds of safety began.This led to the immediate introduction of emergency interim measures while the public health review was initiated...

Working environments ultimately shape and influence all that we do as maternity care professionals. The place in which we work becomes a large part of our lives, and the influences around us shape our professional ethos and practice. Limited research surrounds this 'hidden'aspect of maternity care, yet the phenomenon is real. For some, the work place represents a duty, a calling, an escape, a sanctuary; yet at times it can seem limiting, frustrating and a challenging place to be. It is important to consider how working environments for front-line practitioners affect working practices and experiences...

Water immersion for labour and birth is a powerful, low cost intervention that facilitates physiological birth. However, for some midwives - students or qualified - a lack of exposure to water births can create fearful perceptions and reduce their willingness to support women in water. This article explores the nature of this fear, and how it was overcome from the perspectives of both the mentor and student, perhaps offering useful insights for others.

Using theatre methods and techniques in post registration education has the unique advantage of facilitating learning that is based in the reality of practice yet in a safe space free from the demands and pressures of the work place. It offers compassionate insights that allow participants to reflect on others' behaviour and how their behaviours can impact on the culture in which they work. This article offers a description of how this has been implemented within an acute NHS trust as part of a preceptorship programme in three ways: using a professional theatre company, with other educators and as an individual educator...

Becoming a midwife is the 16th series of'Midwifery basics' targeted at practising midwives and midwifery students. The aim of these articles is to provide information to raise awareness of the impact of professionalism on women's experience, consider the implications for midwives' practice and encourage midwives to seek further information through a series of activities relating to the topic. In the seventh article of the series, Jancis Shepherd explores issues relating to academic integrity, the original presentation of work by students and the relationship with professional practice...

In the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States of America and Europe, universal and routine screening is recommended for pregnant women, extending into the postnatal period. However, the lack of self-confidence among midwives and midwifery students, in implementing diagnostic domestic violence screening, is consistent within the contemporary literature, and has significant implications for the health of women and their families.The evidence for this lack of confidence centres around three professional issues surrounding domestic violence screening from a midwifery context: time constraints; midwifery education; and midwives as recipients of domestic violence...

Report review runs alongside Guideline commentary and the other evidence series articles, examining local, national and international reports that have implications directly or indirectly for midwives. It helps readers to understand what reports mean for midwifery practice and to place report recommendations into context. As with all our evidence series articles, report reviews support you to critique recommendations and have implications for your own practice. This month, Alys Einion celebrates the common-sense approach of Sarah Buckley's 2015 report from the USA...

Obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) can have a very negative impact on women's health and quality of life. Literature exists concerning the role of the surgeon and physiotherapist after OASIS, but there is a dearth of literature pertaining to the role of the midwife in the management of women following an obstetric anal sphincter injury. This article examines the midwife's role and describes a new service instituted at Hadassah-Hebrew University medical centre, Jerusalem, utilised in the early postpartum period while the woman is still in hospital, entitled Special Services for Perineal Trauma...

Current changes in midwifery raise concerns about the erosion of women's choices and midwives' autonomy. This article is an exploration of women's legal rights that relate to consent and declining care. Using examples of poor practice, women's negative experiences are highlighted. However, this article demonstrates how midwifery practice can be grounded in the current legal framework in such a way that women's decisions are upheld and midwives feel supported in their advocacy role.

Lactational mastitis has an incidence of around 10 per cent in postpartum women, with breast abscess complicating some of these.The key principles of treatment include: supportive counselling, warm or cold compresses, effective milk removal, oral antibiotic therapy and symptomatic treatment. Patients can be managed in the community setting; however many present to hospital. The aim of this research was to establish which areas of clinical practice can be improved to reduce hospital admission rates. Sequential cases of lactation mastitis or breast abscess admitted to hospital over two years were reviewed, and it was found that the majority of patients attending the emergency department for management self-presented...

Studying for a doctoral degree can be an exciting, invigorating and ultimately satisfying process but equally it can be a long, arduous, frustrating and lonely journey. In this article I speak of my own experience of the process and offer some thoughts about the 'what, why, when and how' of studying at this level. I consider the excitement of developing your own ideas and project alongside the challenges inherent in doctoral level study, such as coping with uncertainty and rarely having a sense of closure, and I offer some practical challenges to help you decide whether doctoral study is for you...

Becoming a midwife is the 16th series of'Midwifery basics'targeted at practising midwives and midwifery students. The aim of these articles is to provide information to raise awareness of the impact of professionalism on women's experience, consider the implications for midwives'practice and encourage midwives to seek further information through a series of activities relating to the topic. In the sixth article of the series, Jancis Shepherd explores issues of supporting students with health and specific learning difficulties while recognising the need for safe and competent practice...