Parents' experiences of clinical care during second trimester miscarriage

Background Second trimester miscarriage is defined as pregnancy loss after 12 weeks and before 24 weeks gestation. The care that parents receive has been shown to greatly influence the woman's...

Women's experience of their sexual function during pregnancy and after childbirth: a qualitative survey

Women's sexual function is a multifaceted phenomenon that mirrors psychological, physiological, sociocultural, inter- and intra-personal influences, including the health of the whole body and internal...

Are women empowered to make decisions about the use of antidepressants in pregnancy?

Depression and anxiety are two of the most common health problems in pregnancy in the UK, affecting 12% and 13% of women, respectively (Heron et al, 2004; Gavin et al, 2005; Vesga-Lopez et al, 2008)...

Embedding evidence-based practice within the pre-registration midwifery curriculum

Research and evidence-based midwifery practice are essential in order to drive the profession forward and deliver safe, effective, women-centred care Evidence-based practice is not a new concept, but...

Restorative supervision for student midwives: The professional midwifery advocate in the classroom

Flexibility for independent midwives

I first heard about UK Birth Centres Ltd's Professional Risk and Indemnity Scheme for Midwives (PRISM) when it launched in February, directly through Private Midwives The scheme is one-of-a-kind and...

The issue of consent

One memory of my former career as a police officer sticks with me: stood in a soft play with a college who gently touched the member of staff and explained, ‘if I touch you without your consent, then...

Pay deal recognises the value of the NHS

Surely there can be no reader ignorant of the news that a pay deal for NHS staff was agreed, as the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) (2018) carefully phrased it, ‘in principle’ last month. Members of...

International Women's Day

Why, more than 100 years after it was first celebrated, do we still need to observe International Women's Day? Surely, as women make up more than half of the world's population, the need for it has...

Could artificial intelligence assist mothers with breastfeeding?

As midwives, nurses and health visitors are well aware, there is a wealth of information and research about the importance of breastfeeding Benefits to babies include reduced incidence of...

Transforming postnatal care

Postnatal care, the ‘Cinderella’ of NHS maternity services, is often undervalued and in the shadow of its bigger siblings, antenatal and intrapartum care The women of North West London told us that...

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome during pregnancy, birth and beyond

The Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS) are a group of multisystemic, inherited conditions that affect connective tissue (Malfait et al, 2017)

Postpartum haemorrhage: Aetiology and intervention

Postpartum haemorrhage is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide (Knight and Paterson-Brown, 2017) It accounts for one-quarter of all maternal deaths and 100 000 deaths every...

Maternal critical care: Informing and influencing local commissioners

This retrospective audit of maternal critical care was undertaken during 2015 by a consultant midwife and intrapartum midwifery practice educator The aim was to inform local health commissioners on...

Labour pain relief in women with assisted conception and its effects on labour and birth outcomes

With the improvement of assisted reproduction technology, and greater public awareness, a growing number of children are born to women with a history of infertility (Sutcliffe and Ludwig, 2007)...