Normality: Childbirth and Midwife
Midwives are autonomous professionals who are responsible for delivering high quality and holistic care for women during the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal period’s .This involves working in close partnership with women to enable the provision of all necessary support, care and guidance (ICM, 2011). The midwife also has the important task of providing woman -centred care whilst always striving to promote normal birth (midwifery 20 20).
The royal college of midwives (RCM, 2010a) describes normal childbirth as one where a woman begins, continues and completes labour physiologically at term without intervention. However it must be recognised that normality is a hazy subject in health care and there are many different theories making it difficult to define.
This essay will discuss the role of the midwife in the provision of normal midwifery care during the intrapartum period, specifically in relation to up-right positioning and mobility during labour and birth. It will analyse the essential skills a midwife must acquire to allow the provision of normal midwifery care, the main components include; becoming an advocate for the woman, empowering the woman to make informed choices by providing evidence based information and the importance of continuous support and effective communication. The importance of mobility will also be examined and the role of the midwife in enabling mothers achieve effective mobility during labour will be discussed. There are also numerous different positions that women can adopt during the intrapartum period , there are various advantages for different positions therefore the role of the midwife in helping mother’s to accomplish these positions will also be considered.
An imperative role that midwife must adopt in the promotion of mobility during labour and birth, is the role of an educator (Dunkley, Bent, 2012 Mayes book ref). It is important that the woman has been provided with all of the relevant information regarding mobility
The royal college of midwives (RCM, 2010a) describes normal childbirth as one where a woman begins, continues and completes labour physiologically at term without intervention. However it must be recognised that normality is a hazy subject in health care and there are many different theories making it difficult to define.
This essay will discuss the role of the midwife in the provision of normal midwifery care during the intrapartum period, specifically in relation to up-right positioning and mobility during labour and birth. It will analyse the essential skills a midwife must acquire to allow the provision of normal midwifery care, the main components include; becoming an advocate for the woman, empowering the woman to make informed choices by providing evidence based information and the importance of continuous support and effective communication. The importance of mobility will also be examined and the role of the midwife in enabling mothers achieve effective mobility during labour will be discussed. There are also numerous different positions that women can adopt during the intrapartum period , there are various advantages for different positions therefore the role of the midwife in helping mother’s to accomplish these positions will also be considered.
An imperative role that midwife must adopt in the promotion of mobility during labour and birth, is the role of an educator (Dunkley, Bent, 2012 Mayes book ref). It is important that the woman has been provided with all of the relevant information regarding mobility