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What does studying research methods have to do with practice? Views of student midwives and nurses

The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 created the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), whose primary function is to establish standards of education, training, conduct and performance for nurses and...

Enhancing inter-professional education through low-fidelity simulation

The increased recognition of midwives as lead professionals in low-risk pregnancy and birth, and the proliferation of midwifery-led units within the NHS, have raised the profile of midwifery in the...

The benefits of a universal approach

Christmas has been and gone, but there are more gifts to come for pregnant women in Scotland: 2017 sees the launch of a Finnish-style baby box scheme across the country. A 3-month pilot in Orkney and...

As a midwife ‘you must respect a woman's right to confidentiality’: A Northern Ireland perspective

There are pro fes sional standards of practice and behav iour to which a registered midwife must adhere, which are set out by the Nursing and Midwifery Coun cil (NMC) One such obligation is confiden...

Storytelling in midwifery: Is it time to value our oral tradition?

The generation of knowledge in midwifery arguably occurs through a kind of ‘storytelling’ rather than through scientific facts, but the prevalence of scientific knowledge has come to dominate...

Plastics, pregnancy and precaution

In 1967's The Graduate, Mr McGuire advises Dustin Hoffman's character Benjamin on career prospects: ‘I just want to say one word to you Just one word… Plastics’ McGuire was right; Wilcox et al (2015)...

Book review

The Label: A story for families Having...

Parental access to children's records: Considerations for midwives

Midwives have women of varying ages on their caseload, and it is essential that any care or treatment provided is done so within the law Records provide evidence of a midwife's involvement with a...

Motivations and influences acting on women choosing a homebirth: Seeking a ‘cwtch’ birth setting

In the UK, only a small number of women have a homebirth Recent birth figures report that, on average, 23% of women gave birth at home in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics (ONS), 2015)...

Cultural considerations in postnatal dietary and infant feeding practices among Chinese mothers in London

Zuo yuezi (ZYZ)—which, by direct translation, means ‘sitting the month’ or sometimes ‘doing the month’—is a traditional Chinese practice of confinement and convalescence for women for a full month...

Including the newborn physical examination in the pre-registration midwifery curriculum: National survey

Midwives are responsible for undertaking a preliminary examination of the newborn at birth to ascertain any obvious signs of abnormality and, thereafter, to undertake a daily examination in accordance...

Development of a home induction of labour framework

Approximately 25% of pregnant women in the UK have their labour induced (Kelly et al, 2013) At a national level, it is recommended that women be offered a membrane sweep to avoid the need for...

The importance of technology

On Monday 14 November 2016, something happened that highlighted how much we rely on IT to function day-to-day The whole NHS email system crashed, owing to the creation of a distribution list that...

Of embellished memories and the expertise of experts

A recent High Court case (Watts v The Secretary of State for Health [2016]) has raised a number of issues, including the reliance that can be put on a claimant's accounts of the events in question,...

Homebirth and the regulator: An abrogation of responsibility

In 2006, following considerable lobbying and consultation, the Mid wifery Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) updated guidance on the responsibility of a midwife to attend a homebirth...

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