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Midwife Blog

Sepsis

I palpate an oncoming contraction ‘Your bump feels really warm,’ I say to the woman I'm caring for, ‘do you feel OK?’ She replies, shrugging: ‘Yes, I feel fine’ All the observations were normal, the...

800 words to revolutionise midwifery

What a great opportunity: 800 words to revolutionise midwifery! Perhaps my naïve ambition is somewhat overstated, yet change is necessary to prevent our nation's incredibly passionate tribe of...

A comment on kindness

As a student, I can say that I've seen both sides of the coin I've seen success, and in the same vein, failure I'm no stranger to failure: I failed my driving test twice before passing, and I failed...

The value of evidence in change

Famous Florentine writer, philosopher and historian Niccolò Machiavelli once said that, ‘there is nothing more difficult to carry out nor more doubtful of success nor more dangerous to handle, than to...

IVF: A case of ‘less is more’?

Last month was the 40th anniversary of the first IVF birth Louise Brown was born in Oldham General Hospital in 1978 (BBC, 2018) Since then, more than 300 000 babies have been born as a result of IVF...

The value of a midwife

Recently, I read news of carbetocin, a heat-resistant oxytocic that could mostly be used in developing countries where refrigeration facilities are beset with issues (Matthews-King, 2018) Problems can...

Transition

The word ‘transition’ can apply to many areas of our lives Our very first transition is that from the warm, usually inverted world of in-utero existence, into the air- and light-filled birth room,...

Dear Secretary of State

I write in my capacity as a consultant midwife regarding my serious concerns about the impact of the ‘cost recovery’ programme on upfront charging on community midwifery for overseas visitors...

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...

Remembering Lucy Bannister

Lucy Bannister began her journey as a student midwife at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) in September 2014 Lucy worked hard to succeed in her studies and clinical placements, and was...

Induction of labour at 39 weeks

In January 2018, researchers from the Biostatistics Center at George Washington University presented an abstract from the results of A Randomized Trial of Induction Versus Expectant Management...

Continuity of carer

Over the Christmas period, standards for continuity of carer in maternity services were published by NHS England (2017), against a backdrop of reports of A&Es in crisis and routine operations being...

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