Basics

Midwifery basics 6. Breastfeeding in public spaces

Midwifery basics 6. Breastfeeding in public spaces – how experiences in public, and on return to work, affect women’s ability to continue breastfeeding Dr Amy Brown – Professor of Child Public Health at Swansea University Published in The Practising Midwife Volume 22 Issue 2 February 2019 Breastfeeding discussion often focuses on those early days, when women are […]

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Midwifery basics 5. Understanding the impact of family and partner attitudes, experience and expectations upon breastfeeding

Midwifery basics 5. Understanding the impact of family and partner attitudes, experience and expectations upon breastfeeding Dr Amy Brown – Professor of Child Public Health at Swansea University Heather Trickey – Research Fellow, DECIPHer, Cardiff University Published in The Practising Midwife Volume 22 Issue 1 January 2019 As social beings, we exist within families and within communities, and the […]

Midwifery basics 4. Motherhood, mothering and infant feeding

Midwifery basics 4. Motherhood, mothering and infant feeding Amy Brown – Professor of Child Public Health at Swansea University The transition to becoming a mother can be challenging (Nelson 2003). Although often a time of great joy, it is also a time of huge change – and feeling overwhelmed, anxious or even regretful is common. Many […]

Midwifery basics; anatomy and physiology 3. Understanding the impact of birth and the early postnatal environment on breastfeeding initiation and continuation

Midwifery basics; anatomy and physiology 3. Understanding the impact of birth and the early postnatal environment on breastfeeding initiation and continuation Amy Brown – Professor of Child Public Health at Swansea University Scenario Rose is a first-time mother attending a breastfeeding support clinic you are running. Rose gave birth three weeks ago after a complicated labour. Although […]

Midwifery basics; anatomy and physiology 2.

Midwifery basics; anatomy and physiology 2. Understanding physiological contraindications and impediments to exclusive and partial breastfeeding Amy Brown – Professor of Child Public Health at Swansea University As noted in the previous article (Brown 2018), breastfeeding duration shows significant global variation. These differences can predominantly be attributed to differences in psychological, social and cultural influences between […]

Midwifery basics; why do so many women struggle to breastfeed?

Midwifery basics 1. Why do so many women struggle to breastfeed? Exploring psychological, social and cultural influences on infant feeding decisions Amy Brown – Professor of Child Public Health at Swansea University Public health messages encourage new mothers to breastfeed, but breastfeeding rates in many Western regions remain low. Given high maternal intentions to breastfeed, and […]

Supporting student midwives on the neonatal unit

by Karen Devine, midwife As a midwife on a busy neonatal unit (NNU), I am constantly aware that not only are parents and families who use the facility out of their comfort zones, but also the student midwives who come for experience can feel this way, too. I have been there! I remember the daunting […]

Relationship-based continuity of carer: informed choice for mothers AND midwives

There can be no doubt that we should be implementing relationship-based continuity of carer for most women and their babies. The evidence has been mounting over years and is compelling: there are few developments that offer so much benefit, with fewer risks (See http://www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/images/stories/academic/skp_report.pdf). It is difficult to understand why this evidence is still seen […]

Navigating Spaces: 

Fetal Navigation Techniques “I turned my OP baby and regulated my own contractions in an hour, directly avoiding induction and possibly other interventions. This was my second labour, which from this point on flowed smoothly to a physiological birth in just a few hours. My first baby had also started labour in a less than […]

The birth of our humanity

‘A child is born’ …and then? How will that life unfold? Will this baby be well and healthy at birth, with a mother who has been wrapped around in loving care, not only in her childhood and life, but also in pregnancy, labour, birth and the early weeks of life? Will this baby be […]

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