Enhanced midwifery practice
dc.contributor.author | National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2012-12-02T21:45:20Z | |
dc.date.available | 2012-12-02T21:45:20Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2005-11 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10147/254313 | |
dc.description | The National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery (National Council) supports the development of enhanced midwifery roles within the maternity services and believes that such roles will greatly improve the services offered to women and their families. Ireland currently has the highest birth rate in the European Union (EU) at 15.2 births per 1000 people. The birth rate has risen significantly over the last five years and there were 70,620 babies born here in 2007; an increase of over 6000 on 2006 figures (Central Statistics Office (CSO) 2007). The increasing birth rates have led to an increase in demand for maternity services and to compound this problem, the care required by women who present to the services has become increasingly complex. Factors contributing to this complexity include an increase in first-time and older mothers, higher levels of immigration, the large number of women with concomitant medical conditions (i.e. infectious diseases and diabetes), technological advances that have increased the survival rate of very premature infants, increased assisted conception with a greater risk of multiple births and raised expectations in relation to care and outcomes (Health Service Executive (HSE), 2005, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) 2006, Royal College of Physicians Ireland-Institute of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists 2006). Evidence shows that supportive and high quality maternity care not only contributes to ensuring a healthy start for the newborn baby but can also facilitate mothers and fathers develop the skills to be confident and caring parents (Women’s Health Council (WHC) 2004a, Department for Education and Skills 2004). In light of this, it is even more important to consider the particular needs of women and their families and provide high-quality maternity services appropriate to these needs. Midwives are in a central position within the maternity services, supporting, advising, encouraging and caring for women throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period and can help to develop a maternity service more responsive to women’s needs through new and innovative enhanced roles. Part of the remit of the National Council is to provide guidance to the health services on development of midwifery practice to meet emerging patient/client needs within the maternity services. This position paper aims to address the specific implications of enhanced midwifery practice | en_GB |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.publisher | National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery | en_GB |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | Position Paper | en_GB |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | 5 | en_GB |
dc.subject | NURSING | en_GB |
dc.subject | MIDWIFERY | en_GB |
dc.subject | BIRTH RATE | en_GB |
dc.title | Enhanced midwifery practice | en_GB |
dc.type | Working Paper | en |
refterms.dateFOA | 2018-08-23T17:02:19Z |