A box of memories

The Sands memory box is a tool for midwives, and those supporting bereaved parents, to provide sensitive opportunities to begin the lifelong process of acknowledging and remembering their baby

Abdominal palpation—a core skill

My mind starts to wander to the days spent training and the basic midwifery skills taught to the midwives in the health centres The two health centres I taught at were in remote ‘kebeles’ (villages)...

Fathers staying overnight at the maternity ward?

Supporting the next generation

As student midwives, we all come across a real variety of cases It is, arguably, the sole purpose of our large number of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)-stipulated placement hours; to experience...

Why Breastfeeding Grief And Trauma Matter

Autonomy and its impact on midwifery practice

Autonomy is not a new concept in midwifery Although not explicit, the term autonomy has been embedded in the definition of a midwife (International Confederation of Midwives [ICM], 2011) Reiterated in...

Exploring the experiences of student midwives completing the newborn infant physical examination

The newborn and infant physical examination (NIPE) is a screening programme delivered by Public Health England ([PHE], 2019), consisting of screening of the eyes, heart, hips, and testes (in male...

Women's decision-making about mode of birth after a previous caesarean section

Despite the World Health Organization ([WHO], 2015) consensus that rate of caesarean section (c-section) should be between 10%–15%, because higher percentages are not associated with a reduction in...

A life worth living

When my son Tom was a day old and a paediatrician expressed concern that he may have Down syndrome, I was absolutely devastated I felt my world fall apart and the bond of unconditional maternal love I...

Learning to be a midwife

I am in the midst of my eighth week working as a newly qualified midwife I'm not going to lie to you and say that it has been easy, but it also hasn't been quite as difficult as I thought it would...

British Journal of Midwifery peer reviewers 2019

Every issue of the British Journal of Midwifery is dependent on an essential team of peer reviewers to bring our readers the very best midwifery research and clinical content Peer reviewers play an...

Reflecting on #16DaysofActivism2019

During November and December 2019, I was delighted to see so much activity around the international ‘16 Days of Activism’ campaign to end violence against women and girls This years' theme was ‘Orange...