Good intentions to do our best in healthcare are not enough. Healthcare professionals need to know how to close the gap between best evidence and practice, by understanding and applying quality improvement principles and processes. Improving Healthcare is a practical guide, providing healthcare staff with the knowledge and skills that enable them to implement, evaluate and disseminate a quality improvement project in their own workplace. With a comprehensive coverage, chapters cover the history, selection and application of quality improvement philosophies and methods in clinical healthcare at team, unit, organisational and system levels. The book also considers social processes of implementation as well as technical aspects of measuring and improving quality. As an essential guide for healthcare practitioners at any level who are new to service improvement, Improving Healthcare includes practical examples and case studies of healthcare improvements that illustrate the concepts discussed.

This third edition of the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-3) is indispensible for anyone wishing to use the international classification system for classification of morbidity data in a primary care setting. Distilling the many standards that are applied internationally in primary & community care and public health to offer a telescopic view, the classification has been completely rewritten to reflect the continued shift in the health paradigm of primary care and public health towards the person rather than the disease or provider. The content of ICPC-3 remains closely 'linked' to relevant related international classifications. The ICPC-3 also contributes to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, specifically to Goal 3 and its target of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.

Comprehensive survey of the health communication discipline authored by top scholars in the field. A useful text for use both in graduate seminars in health communication and as a desk reference for career researchers and government and NGO health professionals.

Living with Uncertainty gives a broad perspective on the complexities and challenges of the practice of end-of-life care, as well as the perceived benefits and limitations of medical intervention. Drawn from research and clinical and pastoral experience, the book examines the feelings associated with the end of life, highlighting the demands that people are faced with and their consequences. It moves into the difficult area of people who feel defeated by their illness and can or want to live no longer, as well as the family, caregivers and professionals who surround them. These perspectives have been built upon around a hundred narratives of lived experience, combined with the wider clinical and practical range of voices. A topical post-script Lessons from Covid-19 captures the choices and challenges on a personal, professional and systemic level which the pandemic acutely revealed with a multiplicity of examples. This will be essential reading for students and professionals in palliative and end-of-life care. Families and friends will also benefit from this book as they try to come to terms with the delicate but universal issues of death and dying.

Written by midwives for midwives, Myles Textbook for Midwives has been the seminal textbook of midwifery for over 60 years. It offers comprehensive coverage of topics fundamental to 21st midwifery practice. Co-edited for the second time, by internationally renowned midwife educationalists, Professor Jayne E Marshall and Maureen D Raynor from the United Kingdom with a team of contributors from across the midwifery community it retains its clear, accessible writing style. Most chapters provide useful case studies, websites of key organisations and charities for individuals to access further information. Reflective questions at the end of each chapter as well as annotated further reading aid reflective learning and stimulate discussions relating to continuing professional development. The book covers key frameworks that govern midwifery practice, exploring ethical and legal frameworks that are essential to every accountable, autonomous, professional midwife. Includes employer-led models of supervision, vital elements of leadership and clinical governance that supports the provision of high quality maternity services and standards of midwifery practice. The concept of resilience is introduced for the reader to contemplate their personal contribution in creating an environment that is conducive to protecting the wellbeing of themselves and colleagues within the workplace. The text covers the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, highlighting the importance of midwives as global citizens with common goals, and together they form a strong global community prepared to challenge social inequalities and take action to help end extreme poverty. Covers designing and implementing high quality midwifery care using evidence, policy and models of care. Highlights why a holistic and evidence-informed approach is necessary to achieve effective care for all. Working examples will help the reader to think critically about their own practice. For this edition several new chapters are introduced covering concealed pregnancy, fear of childbirth (tocophobia), care of the acutely unwell woman and end of life issues including rights of the fetus/neonate and ethical considerations.

Using Guided Imagery and Hypnosis in Brief Therapy and Palliative Care presents a model for effective single-session therapy. Chapters include more than a dozen case studies with transcripts and commentary. Readers will learn how to use an adapted model of Remen's healing circle for preparing patients for surgery, and guided imagery and other approaches are presented for enhancing palliative care. Extensive appendixes provide a wide variety of valuable tools that psychotherapists can use with clients concerned with end-of-life issues.

This book reconstructs the role of midwives in medieval to early modern Islamic history through a careful reading of a wide range of classical and medieval Arabic sources. The author casts the midwife's social status in premodern Islam as a privileged position from which she could mediate between male authority in patriarchal society and female reproductive power within the family. This study also takes a broader historical view of midwifery in the Middle East by examining the tensions between learned medicine (male) and popular, medico-religious practices (female) from early Islam into the Ottoman period and addressing the confrontation between traditional midwifery and Western obstetrics in the first half of the nineteenth century.

A Midwife's Handbook is designed to provide nurse midwives with quick access to important clinical information. Within each chapter, topics are arranged alphabetically to further ease the access of the information. The overall objective of this handbook is to provide information for the practitioner that is detailed, generally has not been memorized, or that discusses issues which are encountered infrequently enough that a quick review of the details is helpful when the situation arises. Nurse-midwifery management guidelines are included throughout, such as when to manage independently or when to consult with the physician. This outstanding new resource will also integrate alternative and complementary therapies along with key medical information specific to midwifery practice to provide practitioners with the complete care alternatives. Provides nurse midwives quick access to important clinical information that is detailed, generally has not been memorized, or that discusses issues which are encountered infrequently enough that a quick review of the details is helpful when the situation arises. Consistent presentation in each chapter begins with a brief definition of the problem, diagnostic tests and labs, differential diagnosis where appropriate, and concludes with a decision-making tree to assist in the decision making process. Nurse-midwifery management guidelines are included throughout to provide the practitioner with important information such as when to manage independently or when to consult with the physician. UNIQUE! Integrates alternative and complementary therapies along with key medical information specific to midwifery practice to provide practitioners with complete care alternatives.

Midwives increasingly have faced challenging ethical issues that have clinical and legal implications, they have not always been adequately prepared to deal with them. This book adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to guide the student and practitioner through dilemmas that commonly occur in clinical practice and to highlight the changing face of the midwifery profession.Provides a multi-disciplinary approach to guide midwives through dilemmas which occur in clinical practice Anexcellent team of contributors from the field of midwifery and ethics make this an essential purchase for every midwifery student and practitioner

Max van Manen offers an extensively updated edition of Phenomenology of Practice: Meaning-Giving Methods in Phenomenological Research and Writing to provide an eloquent, accessible, and detailed approach to practicing phenomenology. Phenomenology of practice refers to the meaning of doing phenomenology on experiences that are of significance to those in professional practice such as psychology, health care, education, and in contexts of ordinary living. A special feature of this update is the role of examples, anecdotes, stories, and vignettes, and the singularity of fictionalized empirical fragments in making the unknowable knowable. Accordingly, the various chapters are enriched with many intelligible examples of phenomenological essays and excursions on ordinary and extraordinary topics. These examples show that a phenomenological method can be engaged to explore virtually any lived experience or event. Max van Manen provides penetrating portrayals of depthful insights by brilliant phenomenologists. He identifies and distinguishes a variety of phenomenological orientations that are alive and current today. This book is relevant to scholars, students, and motivated readers interested in the originary meanings and methods of phenomenological human science enquiry. Max van Manen's comprehensive work is of significance to all concerned with the interrelation between being and acting, thoughtfulness and tact, in human sciences research and the phenomenology of everyday life.

This is a comprehensive overview of mental health problems associated with pregnancy and the year after delivery. This is a core component of maternity care. The second edition has been updated to reflect current practice, recent evidence and new clinical guidelines. Topics include diagnosis and management and issues for children and families.

The third and final book in the bestselling CALL THE MIDWIFE series, the basis of the major BBC TV series. This final book in Jennifer Worth's memories of her time as a midwife in London's East end brings her story full circle. As always there are heartbreaking stories such as the family devastated by tuberculosis and a ship's woman who 'serviced' the entire crew, as well as plenty of humour and warmth, such as the tale of two women who shared the same husband! Other stories cover backstreet abortions, the changing life of the docklands, infanticide, as well as the lives of the inhabitants of Nonnatus House. We discover what happens with the gauche debutant Chummy and her equally gauche policeman; will Sister Monica Joan continue her life of crime? Will Sister Evangelina ever crack a smile? And what of Jennifer herself? The book not only details the final years of the tenements but also of Jennifer's journey as she moves on from the close community of nuns, and her life takes a new path.

Decision-making pervades all aspects of midwifery practice across the world. Midwifery is informed by a number of decision-making theories, but it is sometimes difficult to marry these theories with practice. This book provides a comprehensive exploration of decision-making for midwives irrespective of where in the world they practice or in which model of care. The first part critically reviews decision-making theories, including the Enhancing Decision-making Assessment in Midwifery (EDAM) tool, and their relevance to midwifery. It explores the links between midwifery governance, including professional regulation and the law, risk and safety and decision-making as well as how critical thinking and reflection are essential elements of decision-making. It then goes on to present a number of diverse case studies, demonstrating how they interrelate to and impact upon optimal midwifery decision-making. Each chapter presents examples that show how the theory translates into practice and includes activities to reinforce learning points. Bringing together a diverse range of contributors, this volume will be essential reading for midwifery students, practising midwives and midwifery academics.

The right for every woman to have a 'natural' birth has been recognized for many years, yet surgical interventions continue to rise and, paradoxically, complaints and the degree of litigation for disappointing labor outcomes escalate. Proactive Support of Labor enhances professional skills by providing the expertise for preventing long labors - the root-cause of traumatic birth experiences and the cesarean pandemic. Step-by-step, evidence-based guidance on expert care and support during labor is given. Emphasis is placed on pre-labor education, personal attention, and well-defined birth planning - including strict diagnoses and timely corrective measures in abnormal labor - and constant audit of all procedures and outcomes. Striking a new balance between natural birth and intervention, and invariably enhancing women's satisfaction with the childbirth experience, the fully updated revision of this groundbreaking work will be essential reading for obstetricians, midwives, nurses, and trainees. For peer and reader reviews of the first edition see: www.proactivesupportoflabor.com.

Focusing on reproductive and sexual justice, this important book explores in detail both the challenges that trans people face when negotiating reproductive and sexual health in restrictive social contexts, and their agency in advocating for change. Chapters cover a breadth of topics such as intimacy, sexual violence, reproductive intentions, sexuality education, oncology, and pregnancy, introducing readers to the latest research in the field as well as key emerging concepts. The authors identify core principles for trans reproductive and sexual justice, providing a broad overview of what is currently succeeding and what can be built on going into the future. Trans Reproductive and Sexual Health offers a comprehensive exploration that is essential reading for academics and students in psychology, sociology, gender studies, and related areas, as well as clinicians and policy makers, offering direct implications for professional audiences working in health and social care.

The Lamaze method is virtually synonymous with natural childbirth in America. In the 1970s, taking Lamaze classes was a common rite of passage to parenthood. The conscious relaxation and patterned breathing techniques touted as a natural and empowering path to the alleviation of pain in childbirth resonated with the feminist and countercultural values of the era. In Lamaze, historian Paula A. Michaels tells the surprising story of the Lamaze method from its origins in the Soviet Union in the 1940s, to its popularization in France in the 1950s, and then to its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s in the US. Michaels shows how, for different reasons, in disparate national contexts, this technique for managing the pain of childbirth without resort to drugs found a following. The Soviet government embraced this method as a panacea to childbirth pain in the face of the material shortages that followed World War II. Heated and sometimes ideologically inflected debates surrounded the Lamaze method as it moved from East to West amid the Cold War. Physicians in France sympathetic to the communist cause helped to export it across the Iron Curtain, but politics alone fails to explain why French women embraced this approach. Arriving on American shores around 1960, the Lamaze method took on new meanings. Initially it offered a path to a safer and more satisfying birth experience, but overtly political considerations came to the fore once again as feminists appropriated it as a way to resist the patriarchal authority of male obstetricians. Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence, Michaels pieces together this complex and fascinating story at the crossroads of the history of politics, medicine, and women. The story of Lamaze illuminates the many contentious issues that swirl around birthing practices in America and Europe. Brimming with insight, Michaels' engaging history offers an instructive intervention in the debate about how to achieve humane, empowering, and safe maternity care for all women.

2021 Honorable Mention for the Association for Feminist Anthropology's Rosaldo Book Prize Maternal health outcomes are a key focus of global health initiatives. In Delivering Health, author Lydia Z. Dixon uncovers the ways such outcomes have been shaped by broader historical, political, and social factors in Mexico, through the perspectives of those who are at the front lines fighting for change: midwives. Midwives have long been marginalized in Mexico as remnants of the country's precolonial past, yet Dixon shows how they are now strategically positioning themselves as agents of modernity and development. Midwifery education programs have popped up across Mexico, each with their own critique of the health care system and vision for how midwifery can help. Delivering Health ethnographically examines three such schools with very different educational approaches and professional goals. From San Miguel de Allende to Oaxaca to MichoacAn and points between, Dixon takes us into the classrooms, clinics, and conferences where questions of what it means to provide good reproductive health care are being taught, challenged, and implemented. Through interviews, observational data, and even student artwork, we are shown how underlying inequality manifests in poor care for many Mexican women. The midwives in this book argue that they can improve care while also addressing this inequality. Ultimately, Delivering Health asks us to consider the possibility that marginalized actors like midwives may hold the solution to widespread concerns in health.

This edited collection - one of a kind in its field - addresses the theoretical and practical implications facing representations of midwifery and media. Bringing together international scholars and practitioners, this succinct volume offers a cross-disciplinary discussion regarding the role of media in childbirth, midwifery and pregnancy representation. One chapter critiques the provision and dissemination of health information and promotional materials in a suburban antenatal clinic, while others are devoted to specific forms of media - television, the press, social media - looking at how each contribute to women's perceptions and anxieties with regard to childbirth.

Critical Qualitative Health Research seeks to deepen understandings of the philosophies, politics and practices shaping contemporary qualitative health related research. This accessible, lively, controversial introduction draws on current empirical examples and critical discussion to show how qualitative research undertaken in neoliberal healthcare contexts emerges and the complex issues qualitative researchers confront. This book provides readers with a critical, interrogative discussion of the histories and the legacies of qualitative research, as well as of the more recent calls for renewed criticality in research to respond to global health concerns. Contributions further showcase a range of contemporary work engaging with these issues and the complex encounters with philosophies, politics and practices this involves; from seeking explicit engagements with posthuman ideas or detailed explorations of deeply engaged humanist approaches, to critical discussions of the politics and practices of emerging novel, digital and creative methods. This book offers postgraduate researchers, health researchers and students alike opportunities to engage more deeply with the emergent, complex and messy terrain of qualitative health related research.

This book reconstructs the role of midwives in medieval to early modern Islamic history through a careful reading of a wide range of classical and medieval Arabic sources. The author casts the midwife's social status in premodern Islam as a privileged position from which she could mediate between male authority in patriarchal society and female reproductive power within the family. This study also takes a broader historical view of midwifery in the Middle East by examining the tensions between learned medicine (male) and popular, medico-religious practices (female) from early Islam into the Ottoman period and addressing the confrontation between traditional midwifery and Western obstetrics in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Fundamentals of Midwifery: A Textbook for Students makes the subject of midwifery accessible, informative and motivating, ensuring that it is an essential text for the aspiring midwife! This resource brings together knowledge from a collection of clinical experts and experienced academics to support your learning and prepare you for the challenges faced in contemporary midwifery healthcare. It presents you with the must-have information that you need concerning both the theoretical and practical aspects of what it means to be a midwife. With extensive full colour illustrations throughout, as well as activities and scenarios, this user-friendly textbook will support you throughout your entire education programme. Fundamentals of Midwifery is essential reading for all pre-registration student midwives, as well as newly qualified midwives. KEY FEATURES: Broad and comprehensive in scope, with chapters on: team working; antenatal care, intrapartum and postnatal care; infant feeding; public health and health promotion; perinatal mental health; complementary therapies; pharmacology and medicines management; and emergencies. Interactive and student-friendly in approach, with activities throughout. Brings together professional and clinical topics in one user-friendly book. Ties in with the latest NMC Standards for pre-registration midwifery education. Supported by an online resource centre featuring interactive multiple-choice questions, additional scenarios and activities, and links to further reading.

The latest edition of this popular book is essential reading for all midwives and doctors working in the labour ward. It has been fully updated but retains the essential features that have contributed to its popularity - an accessible writing style, easy-to-understand explanation of CTGs, and case studies and illustrations to make the content as accessible and practical as possible. Fetal monitoring is a challenging area that requires skill and experience to practise well. This volume explores the subject matter in a detailed but straightforward manner, thus becoming an invaluable resource for health practitioners as well as midwifery and medical students. Fully updated by internationally renowned editors Illustrations and case histories make content applicable to practice Clear and friendly writing demystifies a potentially challenging subject area Explains the correct use of terminology to help ensure safe and accurate communication Covers the basics of interpretation, common pitfalls associated with equipment usage, and clinical trial data in context Explains the underlying pathophysiology associated with abnormal changes seen on the CTG Clinical scenarios demonstrate common presentations such as breech birth, twin pregnancies, brow presentation, hypertension, and eclampsia Real CTG traces demonstrate more complex presentations such as prolonged deceleration, placental abruption, and fetal bleeding

Midwives and other health care professionals need to have a deep understanding of the various lives childbearing women live in order to support them insightfully and practise in a nuanced manner. The Social Context of Birth has been revised, updated and enlarged to provide an essential understanding of the different lives women live and in which they birth their children. For the first time, it also contains original primary research on the perspectives of student midwives as they progress through their three year training. This comprehensive guide provides countless valuable insights into the many different lives, experiences and expectations of women in their childbearing years in the twenty-first century, especially vulnerable women. Written by a team of highly experienced health professionals, it also covers contentious areas of maternity care, such as new reproductive technologies and fetal surveillance. A true essential for all healthcare professionals who work with women giving birth, such as midwives, nurses, health visitors and obstetricians, and wish to deepen their knowledge of women's lives.