Social And Physical Factors: The Roles Of A Midwife

Introduction In this assignment I will discuss the role of the midwife. The roles that a midwife carries out include social, emotional and physical factors. Social factors include the community where the midwife works or where the pregnant woman is from. Emotional factors include the good and bad feelings, thoughts and communication between the midwife and the pregnant woman, her partner and family. Physical factors include palpation and bodily examinations of the pregnant woman.
The three articles that will be used as a support in this assignment are ‘Why won’t Polish women birth at home?’ by John Pendleton. ‘Making it happen: a programme of education in Kenya’ by Frances Rivers. ‘To be a midwife: overcoming the obstacles in Canada (part

She should use her communication skills to create rapport with the woman, and to create intimacy and privacy between the two, so that the woman can feel relaxed and calm. ‘You should provide safe, competent, kind and compassionate professional care which is informed by the best available evidence.’ (Practice Standards for Midwives, 2015 p.18) Then throughout the pregnancy, the midwife should inform the woman of everything that she is about to do, all the tests, examinations and checks ups and explain why she is doing them. The midwife should inform the woman of her choices during and after pregnancy and birth and respect them. ‘You should ensure that you provide information in a format that is understandable and accessible to all women and their families.’ (Practice Standards for Midwives, 2015 p.20) As the word ‘midwife’ is often translated to ‘with-woman’, it is important to have a good rapport between the midwife and the pregnant woman as she is there for the woman throughout her pregnancy, through her joys and pains. (Jordan,

In order to be trained the midwives must go through lectures and clinical skill labs where they are prepared to act accordingly to the situation. (Rivers, 2015)
Besides working in hospitals and clinics, the midwives can also work as community midwives. While working as community midwives, they can introduce the idea of homebirth, and encourage more women to consider it. As there are now cultural varieties among the communities, some people might not be aware of homebirth, or regard it as dangerous. Therefore, the community midwife should supply the pregnant women with appropriate information. (Pendleton, 2015)
In order to be successful, the midwife has to use her knowledge and skills. She must also be aware and follow the NMBI guidelines. Additionally if there is an emergency outside the hospital, or wherever the midwife works, she is obliged to help and do her best in the environment that she is in. ‘In an emergency situation, or any situation where something occurs that is outside your scope of practice, you must continue to provide care.’ (Practice Standards for Midwives, 2015) Similarly, if there are students on duty, the responsibility of the midwife is to supervise everything that they do and check their documentations. Additionally, she is obliged to pass on her knowledge to the student. (Practice Standards for Midwives,