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...
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...
Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most common and recognisable conditions associated with learning disability, and approximately 27/1000 pregnancies are affected (Morris and Springett, 2014) Many...
Implementing safe maternal care is a worldwide concern Optimal care should be provided during the antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods, and should include both the mother and infant (World...
Numerous policy documents from the Department of Health (2009a; 2009b; 2011; 2012a; 2012b; 2013) recognise that breastfeeding is associated with overwhelming health benefits and large potential cost...
Postnatal depression (PND) is under-diagnosed worldwide, with fewer than 40% of depressed mothers seeking help (Haynes, 2007) In the UK, the most commonly used assessment tool for PND is the Edinburgh...
It is estimated that 11% of women in the UK smoke during pregnancy (Office for National Statistics, 2014) Smoking is recognised as a significant predictor for adverse outcomes in pregnancy, increased...
Maternal postnatal depression (PND) has far-reaching consequences, with research identifying the potential impact of PND on the woman (Cooper and Murray, 1995), infant (O'Hara and McCabe, 2013), the...
The newborn and infant physical examination (NIPE) is an integral part of child health surveillance in the UK, with current standards recommending all babies have a NIPE performed within 72 hours of...
Women's lifestyle choices before and during pregnancy can have significant links to the health of both the mother and her unborn child (O'Keeffe et al, 2013) Women attempting to conceive and those in...
In 2004, a joint statement issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)...
There has been much discussion in recent years of the importance of women exercising their right to choose where to give birth (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), 2011;...
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