What is evidence-based practice in midwifery?

What is evidence-based practice in midwifery?

Evidence-based midwifery practice aims to ensure that women receive the care that fits their needs, facilitates sound decision-making, reduces unnecessary and ineffective interventions, provides student midwives and other health professionals with the skills and knowledge to justify their practice, and minimises risk.

What is midwifery led model of care?

Midwifery-led care is defined as care provided to a woman by a single midwife or small group of midwives through pregnancy, birth and the early parenting period. These models of care have been shown to reduce medical interventions for women and reduce the rates of preterm babies when compared with standard care.

What is the role of the midwife during labour and birth?

Midwives are specialists in normal pregnancy and birth, and their role is to look after a pregnant woman and her baby throughout a phase of antenatal care, during labour and birth, and for up to 28 days after the baby has been born.

What is the role of the midwife in intrapartum care?

If a woman develops complications during pregnancy or have previous healthcare problems affecting the pregnancy, the midwife refers the woman for consultation, usually with an obstetrician. Midwives are also the main caregivers for normal births in hospitals.

What are the 5 steps of evidence based midwifery?

5 steps of Evidence Based Practice

• Ask a question.
• Find information/evidence to answer question.
• Critically appraise the information/evidence.
• Integrate appraised evidence with own clinical expertise and patient’s preferences.
• Evaluate.

Why is continuity a hallmark of midwifery?

Continuity of midwifery care contributes to improving quality and safety of maternity care. High quality evidence indicates that women who receive care in these models are more likely to have effective care, a better experience and improved clinical outcomes.

What is the care given to a woman in labour?

Care of the mother Ensure warmth of both mother and baby. Encourage mother to eat, drink and rest. Observe, discuss and document the woman’s initial emotional and psychological response to labour and birth. Ensure mother is supported and has access to a call bell if the midwife is not present.

What are the roles and responsibilities of a midwife?

Midwife: job description

• examining and monitoring pregnant women.
• assessing care requirements and writing care plans.
• undertaking antenatal care in hospitals, homes and GP practices.
• carrying out screening tests.
• providing information, emotional support and reassurance to women and their partners.

What is a meows chart?

In Kettering General Hospital, a modified early obstetric warning system (MEOWS) chart is used from 20 weeks gestation when the woman is admitted to maternity wards. Many pregnancy- specific conditions occur after the 20th week, e.g. pregnancy induced hypertension and gestational diabetes (Stables and Rankin, 2005).

How can I help a woman in labor?

Tips

1. Massage your partner’s temples to help release stress and relax.
2. Remind her to go to the bathroom every hour.
3. Try cool compresses on her neck and face.
4. Encourage her to drink fluids and eat if her doctors will allow it.
5. Help her change positions to encourage labor to progress.

What are the rules of evidence in evidence based practice?

There are four Rules of Evidence; Validity, Sufficiency, Authenticity and Currency. The Rules of Evidence are very closely related to the Principles of Assessment and highlight the important factors around evidence collection.

Do ‘alternative’ settings value midwifery-led care?

Hodnett et al. (2010) found, in their comparison of alternative and conventional labour and birth environments, that staff working in the ‘alternative’ settings all shared philosophies and guidelines that valued midwifery-led care.

How can midwives support women’s coping strategies in labour?

Midwives should support women in use of coping strategies (breathing, relaxation and positions) in labour as use is associated with benefits in terms of pain and women’s emotional experiences of labour (Spiby et al. 2003; Spiby et al. 1999). Midwives should keep up to date with non-pharmacological methods of pain relief.

How does the physical environment affect midwifery practice?

Midwives should be aware of the influence the physical environment has on their practice (Hodnett et al. 2010). The environment in which a woman labours can have a great effect on the amount of fear and anxiety she experiences.

What is a non-Labour ward or radically modified environment?

The non-labour ward or radically modified environment is associated with lower rates of analgesia, augmentation and operative delivery, as well as greater satisfaction with care and positive effect on care givers (Birthplace in England Collaborative Group 2011; Hodnett et al. 2010; Hodnett et al. 2009).