The Role of the Midwife

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The Role of the Midwife It is the role of the midwife to provide individual care to the pregnant woman as well as her partner and family as necessary. The midwife is there to support the woman and her partner from the first few weeks of pregnancy up until the baby is 10 days old (in most cases). As well as the ante-natal checks that are carried out on a regular basis to ensure the health of mother and baby which involve taking blood pressure, feeling for baby, measuring the fundus, listening for baby’s heartbeat and checking mothers’ urine, midwives are there to offer support, help and counselling as and when required by the prospective parents. It is because of this that as well as good practical skills the midwife must also possess excellent communication skills in order to build a good and trusting relationship with the parents to be, because although an exciting time in a person’s life, pregnancy can also make many women (and men) very anxious and it is the midwife that they will contact in the first instance to voice these concerns, therefore it is vital that a good relationship with the parents is established early on. Midwives often work on their own and must be extremely competent at what they do. They are responsible for the woman and her unborn child and therefore must be able to identify high risk pregnancies and know when to make referrals to other medical specialists. They provide advice and guidance on all aspects of pregnancy and birth and this will allow the parents to make informed decisions on where to have the birth, whether/why/how to breastfeed, healthy choices during pregnancy, what tests are available and pain relief during childbirth to name but a few. Ultimately any decision lies with the parents and the midwife should always respect this. Midwives are also on hand to help with birth plans, these convey the mother’s

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