Educating women and girls on female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a global healthcare problem affecting an estimated 200 million women and girls worldwide (World Health Organization, 2020) It is defined as ‘all procedures that...

Midwives in the midst of COVID-19

The world has become connected and united through a global pandemic that has drastically changed the normal way of life The coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2, is a virus that...

Nappy rash: current evidence for the prevention and management

Nappy rash, also known as diaper rash, nappy dermatitis, diaper dermatitis or irritant diaper dermatitis, is one of the most common skin conditions found in infants and is an acute inflammatory...

Reducing the incidence of stillbirth in black women

A stillbirth is a baby delivered at or after 24 weeks of pregnancy showing no signs of life, irrespective of when the death occurred The UK is noted to have one of the highest stillbirth rates in...

Does COVID-19 affect pregnant women?

Why breech birth matters

I was recently teaching a physiological breech birth training day for Breech Birth Network, CIC where I met a wonderful doula with a vast amount of knowledge on physiological birth and supporting...

Enabling perinatal volunteering

There is overwhelming evidence that volunteering and peer support has a unique and valuable contribution to make to ‘Better Births’ outcomes (Spiby et al, 2015; Parents 1st and Institute for Voluntary...

Gestational diabetes and ethics

According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) around 700 000 women give birth in England and Wales annually; up to 5% of these women have either pre-existing diabetes or...

Exploring problematic substance use among registered midwives

There is a united level of concern for the health and wellbeing of midwives in the UK, where recent research has shown that many of these midwives experience work-related stress and burnout (Hunter et...

Terminology review: changing culture to reduce risk

Oxytocin (Syntocinon®) and ergometrine with oxytocin (Syntometrine®) are two well-known brands of oxytocics in current use in maternity centres within the UK A recent incident alerted staff at...

What is a professional midwifery advocate?

Midwives roles are dedicated to their profession, their patients, and giving their time to help women during their pregnancy, childbirth and post-partum period This job can be taxing on the health...

Childbirth satisfaction and perceptions of control: postnatal psychological implications

The safe delivery of a healthy baby is a critical priority in perinatal care However, maternal satisfaction also remains an important outcome, as it has the potential to influence psychological...