Sensitive Midwifery - Issue 44 - October 2019

• Midwives need to hone their listening and observational skills, and be reminded of the importance of non-authoritarian, respectful care for each birthing woman and her family • In the private sector, midwives need to upskill in attending childbirth as the lead professional, and be given the opportunity to do so 3. Collaboration • Midwife-obstetrician relationships require reciprocal respect and engagement • Welcoming independent midwives into hospitals • Deploying doulas and actively encouraging birth partners in the maternity unit 4. Women empowerment • Awareness and promotion of women’s birth rights through evidence-based, authentic pregnancy and birth education on the individual midwife-to-woman, health authority, and maternity facility levels • Fostering a change of mindset, from pregnancy and birth as medical conditions to natural life experiences that have every chance of a good outcome with excellent, physiological, midwife-led care • More support by health authorities of midwife-based care, and the importance of birth companions, including doulas, for the general population • Giving women the opportunity to express their feelings and be involved in care decision-making 5. Managerial matters • Increased midwife deployment • Organisational culture and midwifery policy changes • Support of skilled midwives as professional equals (albeit with the speciality of low-risk birth) to the doctors 6. Woman-centred care research • More research to be conducted • Survey pregnant women to find out their peripartum expectations Is online learning the CPD answer? Asked if they would like Sensitive Midwifery to o ff er online webinars and courses to keep up to date as a sensitive midwife, this is what Sensitive Midwifery Symposium delegates answered: Being a midwife You said: • The one thing that brings me joy, my passion and a wonderful experience • A beautiful career, interesting, satisfying and a fulfilling experience everyday • The theory is interesting but for a student doing practicals, it’s more than a bit gross and frightening • It’s a lifestyle, it’s who I am; I love it and feel I was born to be a midwife • Awesome and scary, challenging yet rewarding • It’s a privilege, a way of life; there’s a huge price to pay, as for any passion; it’s physical, emotional, spiritual; midwifery and birth are creation; they’re universal Anterior 7 eSensitive Midwifery Magazine Issue 44