This website is intended for healthcare professionals
This website is intended for healthcare professionals
Anencephaly is a defect in the closure of the neural tube during the fourth week of gestation, occurring in 47/10 000 births (Collins et al, 2013) The neural tube is a narrow channel that folds and...
First things first, I'd better introduce myself I'm Heidi, a newly qualified midwife, and I was completely shocked but flattered even to be nominated for the British Journal of Midwifery Student...
Breastfeeding is accepted as the optimum way to nourish babies (World Health Organization (WHO), 2016), with proven health benefits for both babies and mothers (Renfrew et al, 2012; Victora et al,...
Experiencing childbirth as a traumatic event is a factor that has been highlighted as contributing to poorer psychological outcomes for mothers Up to 30% of women in the UK experience childbirth as a...
Dobelli (2013) cites an experiment in which a supermarket displayed 24 flavours of jelly, which customers could taste and then buy at a discount; the next day, the experiment was repeated with six...
Over many years, my friend Sheila Kitzinger and I talked about the importance of women receiving care from one or a small group of midwives whom they could get to know and trust over time, which...
My early years were not exactly traditional. My parents were actors, so the nature of their employment was sporadic. When I was a baby, my mother took a temporary job and my father looked after me....
Increasing numbers of women, either during the birth process or in the postnatal period, require an indwelling urinary catheter for a number of reasons This could be because the woman requires a...
Although birth by caesarean section (CS) is a common procedure, there are a number of potential complications, of which one is surgical site infection (SSI) (Gould, 2007; Wloch et al, 2012) Mortality...
Genital tract sepsis is now the leading cause of direct maternal death in the UK, with the incidence rising since 2006 (Cantwell et al, 2011) Perineal trauma can increase the risk of puerperal...
In Ireland, some women who are unable to access a midwife-attended homebirth are choosing to give birth at home without assistance This paper describes the experience of four such women, whose stories...
The new National Maternity Review (NMR, 2016) for England has sparked a range of reactions. As this issue went to press, I read a comment in the New Scientist (Wilson, 2016) which is scathing in its...
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