INTRODUCTION Rising health care costs and the need to consolidate expertise in tertiary services have led to the centralisation of services. In the UK, the result has been that many rural maternity units have become midwife-led. A key consideration is that midwives have the skills to competently and confidently provide maternity services in rural areas, which may be geographically isolated and ...

BACKGROUND Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy may jeopardize maternal and fetal health (IJFWM 49:159-164, 2004; IJGO 133:269-276, 2016). In recognition of the significant public health impact of IPV, the Norwegian Directorate of Health issued new guidelines in 2014, which recommend that health professionals routinely ask all women in antenatal care about their exposure to violence...

Educating midwives to provide nutrition advice is essential. Limited research focuses on midwives' nutrition education. This paper explores self-reported nutrition education received by Australian midwives before and after registration. It draws on quantitative and qualitative data from a larger online survey conducted with the members of the Australian College of Midwives (response rate = 6.9%...

Midwives are responsible for the well-being of women and babies during labor and birth. Learning midwifery is complex and challenging, and how students are welcomed into the labor wards affects learning. This study aimed to identify and explain the conditions that affected midwifery students’ learning in labor wards and their consequences. We used classical grounded theory to analyze longitudin...

OBJECTIVE in the UK, midwives are facing a policy-drive to include men in antenatal care, and men will soon receive paternity leave to enable their involvement. As a result, more men will be able to attend screening, support women and participate in decision-making. We therefore conducted a timely exploration of what being involved means for men and what they want from antenatal screening and m...

Interaction between mothers and midwives during natural childbirth is one of the important factors in relationship between mothers and midwives in natural childbirth. In this qualitative study we explored experiences of mothers and midwives in interaction with each other in natural childbirth. This study was a part of a larger study which was carried out in Iran in 2013-2014. A total of 23 part...

Aim To determine the opinions and attitudes of Turkish obstetricians and midwives to caesarean section (C-section) and vaginal birth following a C-section. Methods The study involved obstetricians and midwives who were working in a state women's hospital and two private hospitals in Gaziantep, Turkey. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires on sociodemographic data and provide opinio...

BACKGROUND Midwives are reported to have changed from 'hands on' to 'hands poised or off' approaches to birth at the same time as obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIs) are increasing. As perineal management details are not routinely collected, it is difficult to quantify practice. AIMS To determine which perineal protections techniques midwives prefer for low-risk non-water births; whethe...