Are Midwives Adequately Prepared to Support Women and their Families during Stillbirth?

Acknowledgment

I wish to express my gratitude to several people including my supervisor, parents, and guardians. The direction and help provided by my supervisor along with the love and support from my family members and friends have helped me throughout this project.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the competencies and capabilities of midwives in providing support and care to women and their families during stillbirth. In order to carry out this research, secondary resources have been used. Some of these resources involve text books, journals, articles, and other documents. The research has focused on stillbirth experiences because they are the most traumatic experiences in the lives of women. According to the findings of this research, there are rules and regulations that govern the activities and performance of midwives. In addition, there are different bodies such as NMC and the Department of Health that have set certain guidelines for midwives. The guidelines and regulations ensure that midwives perform their duties within certain limitations. In addition, it is also ensured that midwives are able to provide proper support and care during emergency

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTI

ABSTRACTII

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Objective1

Keywords1

INTRODUCTION1

Justification of the Topic3

Methodology4

Possible Secondary Research Methods4

Databases accessed8

Data Collection8

Hand Searching Relevant Journals9

Searching Reference Lists9

Author Searching9

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW10

The Role of the Midwife and That of the Medical Practitioner13

The Medicalisation of Pregnancy and Childbirth14

The Shift towards Woman-Centred Care15

Midwifery as a Profession16

Competencies of Midwives17

Midwives and Stillbirths19

NMC Guidelines21

CHAPTER 03: DISCUSSION23

Recommendations25

CHAPTER 04: CONCLUSION28

REFERENCES30

APPENDIX33

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Objective

To explore attitudes, competences and incompetence's of midwives capabilities to support woman and their families during stillbirth.

Keywords

Stillbirth; Bereavement; Midwives; Midwifery education; Support

Introduction

The death of a child is the single most traumatic experience a mother will ever have to encounter. Perinatal loss is one of the most painful experiences that could be experienced by parents during pregnancy. The death of foetus in the uterus is not only unexpected but sometimes it is without clear reasons (Chambers & Chan 2000). The reasons that can lead towards stillbirth may be physiological or emotions. In many cases depression and anxiety faced by childbearing women lead towards stillbirth. In other cases, infections, obesity, and other medical reasons could also result in this mishap (Hughes et al.1999; Saflund et al. 2004).

Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS.1991) recommends that, community health practitioners should be provided with in-service along with basic and advanced trainings in order to ensure that they can provide adequate support and care to families who experience these emergencies. Mc Creight (2004) acknowledges that the death of child before birth is a miserable event that has a profound impact on childbearing women as well as their f.amilies. Going on to state, the emotional needs of these health professionals need to considered because their emotional state has an impact on their professional competency. Yet, in the current climate were health professionals and trusts are constantly under threat of litigation, the Nurses and Midwifery Council (NMC) include only the bare minimum of training in their Three year program ...