Investigation of informed consent procedures initiated in the intrapartum period

There is common agreement that the three key elements of informed consent, voluntarism, information disclosure (Office for Human Research Protections, 1979) and the decision-making capacity of an...

A report on a quality improvement initiative to increase midwives' confidence in attending home birth

Aquality improvement project was initiated with the aim of increasing home birth within a London NHS trust In 2016, the ‘Better Births’ report (NHS, 2016) was published As an early adopter for the...

Why Oxytocin Matters

Why Oxytocin Matters As a whole, this...

First week on the job

‘No one can prepare you for the transition from student to qualified practitioner’ These are the wise words of my mum, former intensive treatment unit nurse and current matron She's absolutely right...

Promoting leadership roles in midwifery

Induction of labour—the debate

Induction of labour is currently a topical issue in midwifery This month, I am risking controversy by discussing my thoughts on the debate over increasing induction of labour Over the past two years,...

Breaking the silence

Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of the Lancet, described stillbirth as ‘one of the most neglected, marginalised, and stigmatised issues in global health today’ (Jolly, 2016) More than 26 million...

Understanding the coronavirus

Since January 2020, news of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China has made headlines around the world (Reynolds, 2020) However, how many of us fully understand what the virus is and what the...

Revised standards of proficiencies for midwives: an opportunity to influence childhood health?

The first 1 000 days of life, from conception until a child's second birthday, are significant in terms of influencing childhood health (Black et al, 2016; Cusick and Georgieff, 2018; House of Commons...

From handover to takeover: should we consider a new conceptual model of communication?

Clinical handover has long been an important topic among both clinicians and academics interested and involved in patient safety in healthcare It is widely recognised that clinical handover represents...

Being bullied as a midwifery student: does age matter?

The increased numbers of older students undertaking midwifery education (Carolan, 2011) adds an interesting dimension to the issue of bullying on clinical placement With research on bullying still...

Exploring the experiences of student midwives completing the newborn infant physical examination: part 2

This is the final article in a two-part series which explores the experiences of student midwives undertaking the newborn infant physical examination (NIPE) Part one explains the background to the...