A midwifery profession means considerably more than working with cute and cuddly newborn babies. It gives you the ability and privilege to empower women through an amazing journey into motherhood. The reality of becoming a midwife and upholding a career is theoretically rewarding, but alongside it is understood that there comes a need for passion and hard work to be able to be a full time midwifery student through Otago Polytechnic. This essay will demonstrate my understanding of midwifery in New Zealand, my understanding of blended delivery of the Otago Polytechnic Midwifery Program, a sustainable student profile and the roles and responsibilities of midwives in New Zealand. According to The New Zealand College of Midwives (NZCOM) (2014), …show more content…
I have considered the emotional and financial strain on my family, but I have total confidence in my ability to complete the course, and I have a fully supportive fiancé who supports me. I have been lucky enough to take several years away from work to spend time with my children, and this has already made us adaptable to one income. My fiancé encourages me to strive for the qualification and career that I have considered for many years. He is always willing to take the children away for me to study, and pick up extra home duties when I have assignments or study due. In regards to childcare for my children in these situations, we plan to employ an au pair so I am free to respond to calls from midwives I follow if it is out of school hours. Through listening to other first and second year Otago Polytechnic students of the midwifery degree it sounds like the workload comes in waves, but the rewards and satisfaction usually out way the hard times. My family has been informed how midwifery becomes a way of life and it will at some point interrupt social events, family events and day to day living. Although it will be a shame to miss out on these things, they understand the benefits of me working in such a satisfying job, and I am ready and willing to give it my …show more content…
The Midwifery Council of New Zealand (2010) states that “the midwife works in partnership with women, on her own professional responsibility, to give women the necessary support, care and advice during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period up to six weeks, to facilitate births and to provide care for the newborn”. A midwife is responsible for providing women-centred care for all of her patients. Her women should have the opportunity to make informed decisions about their care and treatment. Good communication between the midwife and women is essential to providing evidence-based information tailored to the woman 's needs (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2010). In addition, it is the midwife’s responsibility to maintain appropriate levels of competence through ongoing training. As midwifery education continues to develop in New Zealand it is important not only to gain a midwifery qualification, but to remain up to date with research evidence to inform their practice. The Midwifery Council requires midwives to engage in a certain amount of continuing education every three years, which includes opportunities from short courses through to postgraduate certificates, diplomas, master’s degrees and doctorates (NZCOM,
Critically discuss the challenges that may be encountered by the new graduate nurse/ midwife in one of the following areas within this domain:
The bachelor of health science disability and community rehabilitation major offered at Flinders University endeavours to prepare students for a range of professions within the health care community development sector. This could be services such as welfare and community advocacy, human resource and administration management, policy advice, through to professions such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and midwifery (Flinders University, 2016). The preparation could be through the completion of the degree, the use of the degree as a recognised Flinders pathway or as a passage to further postgraduate studies (Flinders University, 2016). Personally I wish to transition into either a combined or a postgraduate master’s degree in occupational
Finding a practitioner to care for you during your pregnancy and the birth of your child is a very important task. Most people go to their family doctor. Unless your pregnancy is high risk that may not be necessary. Midwives offer care that is “lower-tech, less invasive, and less inclined toward intervention without a clear medical need.” says Jamie Cruz, author of “Call the Midwife”. Many women are uneducated on the benefits to selecting care from a midwife. Many times when expecting mothers discuss their options with their family doctor, the discussion of midwives is often avoided or the doctor will discourage the expecting mother from choosing a midwife. Midwives and doctors should work as a team and embrace each other, however due to
It is wrong to assume that the stigmas that exist around the practicing methods of midwifes today are products of the past. A lot of information in today’s society is recent and biased against the...
They must assess the needs of the woman to determine and provide a care as instructed, this can be before conception and then throughout the antenatal and postnatal period. The focus when looking after women is to provide holistic care and making sure it's done with compassion and love. This includes respecting the women's individual choices and needs in a variety of different situations. According to NMC (2008) guidelines, midwives must treat people with care, compassion, dignity, respect and must be impartial. These competencies and proficiencies are assured through pre- and post-registration education. Being insightful when communicating and having an active listening skills provides the whole family with the feeling of being valued and considered. This includes being interested and being able to respond appropriately to establish productive and professional relationships with the women and their families. Midwives need to have the ability to be tactful, but also being able to exert influence through respect and credibility. Giving out clear and respectful messages that can be understood by women and also being able to recognise non-verbal cues and behaviours of family members is necessary (Mayes, 2011 and Nicholls L, Webb C. 2006). Midwives are also still accountable for their actions regardless of what happened, even when delegating tasks to other members of staff. The use of effective communication is
In the world of midwifery, women in particular are the main focus of primary care. In addition, it is about being with the women, in partnership with the women and delivering women centered care. In the perspective of midwives, it is important that women view midwives as the supporters of their journey rather than midwives doing their jobs. (Carolan & Hodnett, 2007). Midwives are the primary providers of maternity care. They have the role and responsibility to deliver continual care throughout a women's naivety and ensures that the women receive optimal care and support. Over the time of pregnancy and beyond, women and midwives have the time to create trust and develop a sense of bonding with one another. Antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum
I am a registered staff nurse who prior to commencing my midwifery training was working on a surgical ward facilitating pre and postoperative care for critically and chronically ill patients. I was fortunate that during my nursing training I had an opportunity to be assigned practice placement with the community midwives and visit the labour ward. After this learning experience I was able to make a decision to undertake midwifery training after completing the required period of post registration experience. While with the community midwife I attended antenatal clinics where I practiced midwifery skills, namely palpation and auscultation with a Pinard’s stethoscope and enhanced my communication skills. Unfortunately I was unable to hear anything through a Pinard’s stethoscope and so when I made a decision to pursue midwifery tr...
Black (2002) defines “professional regulation as the attempt to alter the behavior of others according to defined standards or purposes with the intention of producing a broadly identified outcome, which may involve mechanisms of standard-setting, information-gathering and behaviour-modification.“ Midwives are regulated by the nursing and midwifery council which in 1902 were known as the central midwife board. This is to ensure that appropriate training and registration has been undertaken. This bans the unqualified practice of midwifery. The 1902 Midwives Act serves to recognise the professional status and regulation of midwives as autonomous practitioners in midwifery. The code 2015 helps to regulate midwives and the standards of practice. This influences professional behaviours of midwives it ensures that midwives promote professionalism, good communication, verbal and non-verbal. Regulation allows for a set standard to be practiced throughout the United Kingdom as all midwives work to the same level of care. This makes it easier to identify midwives who do not preserve safety and practice effectively. Other ways in which midwives are regulated include revalidation, and the standards of competence for registered midwives. Revalidation consists of undertaking 450 hours of practice within the last three years. Undertaking 35 hours of continuing
Pairman,S., Tracy, S., Thorogood, C., & Pincombe, J. (2013). Theoretical frameworks for midwifery practice. Midwifery: Preparation for practice.(2nd ed, pp. 313-336). Chatswood, N.S.W. : Elsevier Australia
Throughout history mankind has come up with some wonderful inventions and innovations, but out of all the creations by far the most beautiful and precious is human birth. I first developed an interest in nursing and in particular midwifery years ago. I believe it is a great service within the health profession because of the privileged position to assist in human childbirth. The word midwife means with woman. Centuries before obstetricians delivered babies, midwifes assisted women in having at home births. But it was only formally established as a profession in the early 1900’s. A nurse-midwife is a registered nurse that specializes in midwifery. The job of midwife is to assist in family planning and birth control advice, provide general gynecological services (such as pap smears and breast exams), aid women in childbirth, and help women by providing prenatal and postpartum care. Nurse-midwives are required to have a Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree and pass the American College of Nurse Midwifery (ACNM) board examination to obtain certification.
Cragin, L. (2004). The theoretical basis for nurse-midwifery practice in the United States: A critical analysis of three theories. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.uta.edu/science/article/pii/S1526952304002156
The Department of Health preceptorship framework (2010, P11.) describes preceptorship as “A period of structured transition for the newly registered practitioner during which he or she will be supported by a preceptor, to develop their confidence as an autonomous professional”. The nursing and midwifery council (NMC) define the role of a preceptor as “providing support and guidance enabling ‘new registrants’ to make the transition from student to accountable practitioner”, suggesting that a period of preceptorship should be offered at registration. Locally, the Welsh Government (2009) supported this in their post registration career framework.
I initially considered midwifery when I attended an antenatal scan with my auntie and heard the heartbeat of the unborn baby for the first time. Listening to discussions regarding health concerns and family support highlighted the importance of the midwife and mother relationship. Two years ago I was given the opportunity to be my mum’s birthing partner alongside my dad. I saw how the midwives interacted and were supportive through the birthing and decision making process. It was found that the baby was breach and the safe option was a caesarean section, and with the complications discussed mum was able to make the right decision. I attended pre and postnatal appointments and listened to the midwives offering advice and guidance, develop a birthing plan as well as check and monitor the health and wellbeing of mum. These first hand experiences have given me a deeper understanding of the role of a midwife and how communication and building trusting relationships is key during these emotional and vulnerable times for a woman, and inspired me to become a midwife.
It’s been my desire, longing for a nursing career since I was in my primary and secondary school. At the age of 12, I began to look after children and baby-sitting then, from there, I gained the understanding of how to deal with children. Nursing is one of the highly demanding careers that bring new challenges every day and it comes with various rewards and a real sense of job satisfaction. I chose nursing because it is a profession where you never really finish learning. It has been my dream job since my tender age. Seeing nurses visiting my school treating students, immunisation, teaching us about health and sexual health issues, this encouraged me. My goal and desire at that age have been to help people within the Health sector. That is how; I decided to go to college where I am currently doing my Access to Higher Education Diploma (Science), which involves Biology and Chemistry. I chose this pathway because I want to gain the relevant skills and knowledge of my career to be. As someone who wants to become a nurse, I found biology as an important role in the delivery of client car...
However, nurses in the maternity ward have expressed their deepest concerns about meeting the needs of first time mother on discharge education during their stay in the hospital. Some of the nurses’ concerns include the lack of time and the amount of information they are required to equip the first time mothers to care for their newborn. Mothers have also reported dissatisfaction with the discharge education provided by the hospital. One of which that causes their frustration was the inconsistent breast feeding information and the need for more information about newborn care which was not covered by the hospital. (Barbara L. Buchko C. H., National Center for Biotechnology Info...