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...

Back to the future: midwives' experiences of undertaking a return to midwifery practice programme

Midwifery shortages are a global issue (World Health Organization, 2018) Maintaining an adequate and competent workforce is a major challenge for health service providers An increasingly important...

Utilisation of antenatal care services as determinants of satisfaction and its challenges in Lagos, Nigeria

Complications of pregnancy and childbirth cause more deaths and disabilities than any other reproductive health problems in African countries, including Nigeria (World Health Organization [WHO], 2016)...

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...