Guatemala, midwives, postpartum, hemorrhage, childbirth, obstetrics, focus group Traditional midwives attend the majority of births in Guatemala (Maupin, 2008; Walsh 2006; Walsh 2003), yet evidence from Lang and Elkin’s landmark article (1997) shows traditional midwives in Guatemala lack basic skills to prevent and treat postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Most traditional midwives are indigenous and ...

BACKGROUND Mothers develop expectations regarding midwives’ care during labour and when these are not met mothers become dissatisfied and eventually have negative experiences of their labour. It is only when mothers’ voices are heard by midwives in the labour ward that efficient and quality care will be provided. To ensure mothers have a positive experience of labour, midwives should include mo...

OBJECTIVE To identify and explore the emotion work of hospital-based midwives. DESIGN An ethnographic approach using focus groups, observations and interviews. SETTING South Wales, UK. PARTICIPANTS Phase one of the study: self-selected convenience sample of 27 student midwives in first and final years of 3-year (direct entry) and 18-month (post-nursing) programmes. Phase two: opportunisti...

OBJECTIVE to explore midwives' perception of intrapartum risk for healthy nulliparous women in spontaneous labour at term of a healthy singleton pregnancy, in the Belgian Flanders, and to compare these results with those of a previous study undertaken in England. DESIGN survey of the care midwives would advocate and their perception of intrapartum risk using a standardised scenario. This stud...

OBJECTIVE this qualitative ethnographic study describes the content and process of psychosocial assessment and depression screening undertaken by midwives in the antenatal booking visit in two maternity units in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. STUDY DESIGN participants included 34 pregnant women and 18 midwives who agreed to be observed during the antenatal booking visit. A structured obser...

OBJECTIVE to develop and validate national competency standards for midwives in Australia. This study was part of a commissioned national research project to articulate the scope of practice of Australian midwives and to develop national competency standards to assist midwives to deliver safe and competent midwifery care. DESIGN a multi-method, staged approach was used to collect data through...

BACKGROUND Maternal nutrition during pregnancy affects the health of the mother and the baby. Midwives are ideally placed to provide nutrition education to pregnant women. There is limited published research evidence of Australian midwives' nutrition knowledge, attitudes and confidence. AIM To investigate Australian midwives' nutrition knowledge, attitudes and confidence in providing nutritio...

BACKGROUND Studies suggest that poor oral health during pregnancy can lead to perinatal complications, such as low birth weight and preterm delivery as well as poor oral health in children. Aim of this study was to assess the German midwives knowledge about oral health and preventive recommendations for pregnant women, infants and young children. METHODS The nationwide online-survey was condu...

BACKGROUND Professional midwives have an important role to play in midwifery training to produce a competent midwife. According to the social learning theory, professional midwives act as role models for students. When allocated for clinical learning experiences in the training hospitals, students will have the opportunity to observe the well-trained, skilled, and experienced professional midwi...

OBJECTIVE to investigate midwives' attitudes and opinions on mode of birth. DESIGN exploratory descriptive study. Data were collected via study-specific questionnaires during 2006. SETTING southeastern Sweden. PARTICIPANTS all midwives working in two counties. FINDINGS regardless of age, experience and working field, the midwives considered a reasonable caesarean rate to be around 11.5 ...