Childbirth guru Dr Gowri Motha, who practises with Dr Yehudi Gordon - author of Birth and Beyond - shows women how her revolutionary method helps women carry the baby to full term, have less intervention in the birth; feel less pain in labour, and feel happy and in control. The Gentle Birth method is a concise pregnancy programme combining diverse therapies such as 'creative healing' massage, a simple diet, self-hypnosis, reflexology and affirmation techniques The method was created by Dr Gowri Motha as an alternative to conventional obstetric practise, when she became alarmed at the increasing number of women needing intervention during their births. It teaches expectant mothers how to train their bodies and minds in order to reduce or prevent complications during pregnancy and labour. This book outlines the Method, with a month-by-month programme explaining how to rebalance the body and tailor it to the optimum condition for the birthing process. It includes guides to treating problems such as: - back pain - nausea - heartburn - fluid retention - stretch marks The programme offers women a formal framework in which to prepare their bodies and so avoid facing a labour that is unnecessarily long, arduous and traumatic, with significantly lower uptakes of pain relief.

Experiences of Health Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic shares the stories of frontline health workers-told in their own words-during the second wave of COVID-19 in Australia. The book records the complex emotions healthcare workers experienced as the pandemic unfolded, and the challenges they faced in caring for themselves, their families, and their patients. The book shares their insights on what we can learn from the pandemic to strengthen our health system and prepare for future crises. The book draws on over 9,000 responses to a survey examining the psychological, occupational, and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on frontline health workers. Survey participants came from all areas of the health sector, from intensive care doctors to hospital cleaners to aged care nurses, and from large metropolitan hospitals to rural primary care practices. The authors organise these free-text responses thematically, creating a shared narrative of health workers experiences. Each chapter is prefaced by a brief commentary that provides context and introduces the the themes that emerged from the survey. This book offers a unique historical record of the experiences of thousands of healthcare workers at the height of the second wave of the pandemic and will be of great interest to anyone interested in the experiences of healthcare workers, and the psychological, organisational, healthcare policy, and social challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

This new edition provides an up-to-date and thoughtful guide to supporting women in labour, looking at a range of techniques and approaches that promote a safe and positive experience of birth for women and their families. Across the world, support in labour has been shown to reduce obstetric interventions and improve outcomes for women and babies. Written by two highly experienced midwifery authors, this text draws on a wide range of cutting-edge research on this topic, identifying how the evidence can be applied to everyday practice. Narratives from women and practitioners, including midwives, doulas, childbirth educators and students, are used to illustrate a range of situations where the quality of support is central to the quality of the experience and outcome. Supporting Women for Labour and Birth encourages readers to reflect on their experiences and examine the evidence provided by both research and experiences of women and practitioners in order to explore how this could be incorporated into their practice. The only book to deal directly with the practical and emotional issues associated with labour support, this is an ideal text for student midwives and an important reference for practising midwives, doulas and other childbirth practitioners.

This book provides an exploration of the ethics of cardiology practice. It provides a variety of frameworks for analyzing ethical issues that arise in cardiovascular medicine. Cardiovascular medicine-the diagnosis and treatment of congenital and acquired diseases of the heart, major arteries, and veins-has seen rapid change in diagnosis, treatment, and the organization of practice in the last half of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty first century. The complexity of these developments has resulted in increasing subspecialization, and many practitioners are challenged to stay abreast with the latest developments in cardiology. These changes also bring with them various ethical challenges. The chapters in this volume are divided by five broad areas of practice: beginning-of-life, end-of-life, transplantation and allocation of expensive or scarce resources, professionalism, and research. The case-based approach presented across the volume provides a perspective that will allow readers to reason through current and future ethical issues as they arise in this rapidly changing field. Ethical Issues in Cardiovascular Medicine will be of interest to researchers working in bioethics, clinical ethics, and the philosophy of medicine, as well as practicing physicians, nurses, and students who work in cardiovascular medicine.

With increasing diversity in the UK's childbearing population and ongoing racial disparities in maternal health outcomes, this new title will help both students and practising midwives provide care that meets the needs of childbearing women and birthing people from different cultural backgrounds. The book lays the foundations for exploration of the many manifestations of transcultural care and how it relates to women, their families and societies. It covers everything that midwives need to know in order to be sensitive to and aware of cultural differences, needs and preferences during pregnancy and childbirth, ultimately enabling them to provide better care for all. Written by senior midwifery lecturer Sarah Esegbona-Adeigbe, an experienced practitioner in ethnic minority health, high risk pregnancy and the socio-cultural context of women's healthcare, Transcultural care in midwifery practice is destined to become a core text in midwifery courses. Covers main cultural competency models and how to apply cultural competency and cultural safety concepts to individual women Provides an overview of different cultures and religions to support cultural awareness and sensitivity Addresses barriers and ethical issues in midwifery care and how to mitigate them Packed with scenarios, case studies and activities to support learning Reflective activities in each chapter to reinforce cultural concepts

The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Reproduction is a comprehensive overview of the topics, approaches, and trajectories in the anthropological study of human reproduction. The book brings together work from across the discipline of anthropology, with contributions by established and emerging scholars in archaeological, biological, linguistic, and sociocultural anthropology. Across these areas of research, consideration is given to the contexts, conditions, and contingencies that mark and shape the experiences of reproduction as always gendered, classed, and racialized. Over 39 chapters, a diverse range of international scholars cover topics including: Reproductive governance, stratification, justice, and freedom. Fertility and infertility. Technologies and imaginations. Queering reproduction. Pregnancy, childbirth, and reproductive loss. Postpartum and infant care. Care, kinship, and alloparenting. This is a valuable reference for scholars and upper-level students in anthropology and related disciplines associated with reproduction, including sociology, gender studies, science and technology studies, human development and family studies, global health, public health, medicine, medical humanities, and midwifery and nursing.

Based on an ethnography of postpartum consultations by independent midwives in Switzerland, this book produces unique insights into home-birth parents' breastfeeding journey from the first hours after birth to weaning. Considered the "natural" continuity of childbirth without intervention, breastfeeding is a fundamental component of the holistic, continuous and individualised care independent midwives provide as they engage with parents in a shared construction of meaning around breastfeeding. This book offers new perspectives on the conceptualisation of breastfeeding as a shared process. Parents, in collaboration with their midwife and baby, are jointly constructing "negotiated breastfeeding". As the child grows and develops, questions arise regarding the management of risks, the construction of the lactating body and the body work required, and the perception of breastfeeding as a means of communication with the child, consistent with a "child-centred" approach to parenting. Fostering a reflection on the contrasts and similarities between the marginal model of holistic care and the dominant biomedical model, this book sheds light on issues of a broader scope: the relationship to health risks and health promotion, gender inequalities regarding parental roles and responsibilities, the concept of the child as a "project", and the consequential "intensification" of parenthood. The book also explores transversal themes by outlining how reproduction and parenting are undertaken in Switzerland, framed by the local cultural, political and economic context, including the gender system and resulting power relationships.

A ground-breaking ethnographic study of suckling in the Arabian Gulf , this book reenergises the study of kinship. It analyses the misunderstood and marginalized phenomenon of suckling drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Qatar over a seven-year period. Fadwa El Guindi situates suckling (often given other names or subsumed under misleading classifications) squarely in the analytical category of kinship, with recognition that kinship is necessarily biological, societal and cultural. The volume takes kinship study beyond origins, nature-culture debates, and social nurturing and relatedness, and challenges claims of deterministic, reductionist formulas. As well as key reading for those involved in milk kinship research, this book is valuable for anthropologists, Middle East scholars and others with an interest in breastfeeding, family and social organisation, and religion.

Banking on Milk takes the reader on a journey through the everyday life of donor human milk banking across the United Kingdom (UK) and beyond, asking questions such as the following: Why do people decide to donate? How do parents of recipients hear about human milk? How does milk donation impact on lifestyle choices? Chapters record the practical everyday reality of work in a milk bank by drawing on extensive ethnographic observations and sensitive interview data from donors, mothers of recipients and the staff of four different milk banks from across the UK, and visits to milk banks across Europe and North America. It discusses the ongoing pressures to do with supply, demand and distribution. An empirically informed "ethnography of the contemporary", where both biosociality and biopower abound, this book includes an exploration of how milk banks evolved from registering wet nurses with hospitals, showing how a regulatory culture of medical authority began to quantify and organize human milk as a commodity. This book is a valuable read for all those with an interest in breastfeeding or organ and tissue donation from a range of fields, including midwifery, sociology, anthropology, geography, cultural studies and public health.

Motherhood, Spirituality and Culture explores spiritual skills that may assist women in changes, challenges and transformations undergone through the transition to motherhood. This study comprises rich, qualitative data gathered from interviews with 11 mothers. Results are analysed by constructing seven unique maternal narratives that elucidate and give voice to the mothers in their transition by in depth exploration of six themes emerging from the analysis. Overall discussion ranges across such realities as: * desires, expectations and illusions for mothering; * birth and spiritual embodied experiences of mothering; * instinctual knowing; identity and crisis, and connections of motherhood; * changes and transformations undergone through motherhood. This study presents a unique framework for qualitative studies of spirituality within motherhood research; by weaving together transpersonal psychology, humanistic psychology, spiritual intelligence and the spiritual maternal literature.This book will appeal to all women who have transitioned to motherhood. It willalso be of assistance to professionals who wish to approach any aspect of maternity care and support from a transpersonal perspective. It will also provideunique insights for academics and postgraduate students in the fields of anthropology, psychology, psychotherapy and feminism studies.

Interpreting Basic Statistics gives students valuable practice in interpreting statistical reporting as it actually appears in peer-reviewed journals. Features of the ninth edition: * Covers a broad array of basic statistical concepts, including topics drawn from the New Statistics * Up-to-date journal excerpts reflecting contemporary styles in statistical reporting * Strong emphasis on data visualization * Ancillary materials include data sets with almost two hours of accompanying tutorial videos, which will help students and instructors apply lessons from the book to real-life scenarios About this book Each of the 63 exercises in the book contain three central components: 1) an introduction to a statistical concept, 2) a brief excerpt from a published research article that uses the statistical concept, and 3) a set of questions (with answers) that guides students into deeper learning about the concept. The questions on the journal excerpts promote learning by helping students * interpret information in tables and figures, * perform simple calculations to further their interpretations, * critique data-reporting techniques, and * evaluate procedures used to collect data. The questions in each exercise are divided into two parts: (1) Factual Questions and (2) Questions for Discussion. The Factual Questions require careful reading for details, while the discussion questions show that interpreting statistics is more than a mathematical exercise. These questions require students to apply good judgment as well as statistical reasoning in arriving at appropriate interpretations. Each exercise covers a limited number of topics, making it easy to coordinate the exercises with lectures or a traditional statistics textbook.

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.

This evidence-based guide educates and informs health professionals about promoting sexual wellbeing in the context of challenges from physical and mental health. Sexuality is an important aspect of quality of life for many people but can be affected by a wide variety of health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, mental illness, menopause, diseases of ageing, neurological diseases and spinal cord injuries, combat injuries, and cancer. Building readers' confidence in initiating and encouraging open communication on this often-neglected topic, Sexuality and Illness includes case studies that illustrate how to talk about sexuality and support patients with concerns about it. Making recommendations for practice and further reading, it takes into account gender, sexual, race and ethnic diversity. This accessible text demystifies a topic that is sometimes difficult to discuss. It is essential reading for healthcare practitioners interested in providing comprehensive and person-centred care.

This evidence-based guide educates and informs health professionals about promoting sexual wellbeing in the context of challenges from physical and mental health. Sexuality is an important aspect of quality of life for many people but can be affected by a wide variety of health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, mental illness, menopause, diseases of ageing, neurological diseases and spinal cord injuries, combat injuries, and cancer. Building readers' confidence in initiating and encouraging open communication on this often-neglected topic, Sexuality and Illness includes case studies that illustrate how to talk about sexuality and support patients with concerns about it. Making recommendations for practice and further reading, it takes into account gender, sexual, race and ethnic diversity. This accessible text demystifies a topic that is sometimes difficult to discuss. It is essential reading for healthcare practitioners interested in providing comprehensive and person-centred care.

"Jacki Pritchard has done an excellent job in writing her new book. The many scripts are immensely creative and wide-ranging. Any Hypnotherapist working with childbirth should have this book in their tool-bag; I totally recommend it." - Steve Burgess, Hypnotherapist and Director of Lionheart Training This practical volume provides resources and guidance for practising hypnotherapy with pregnant women and their birthing partners. Hypnotherapy for Pregnancy and Birthing begins with an overview of the topic and discusses a range of complex issues and vulnerabilities that might arise during sessions, before moving onto setting up and running group and/or individual sessions. Then, presenting techniques to work with pregnancy and birthing draws on a range of methodologies including solution-focused, metaphors (Ericksonian), Gestalt therapy, benefits approach and regression therapy. It covers: * Hypnosis, pregnancy and birthing * Getting into trance and relaxation * Breathing * Practising self-hypnosis and working on issues * Preparing for birthing * Bonding with baby * Working with worries, fears and phobias * Dealing with trauma and the unexpected * Loss and bereavement * Ego boosting. Containing over 70 customisable scripts and designed to stimulate reflection, this book is a valuable resource for student, newly qualified and experienced hypnotherapists working with pregnancy and birthing.

Continuity of care in midwifery - the most traditional way of practising - has been overlooked for much of the last century but is re-emerging as an evidence-based model of care, one which is known to benefit women. This book is a vital companion to students and qualified midwives as continuity of care is integrated into midwifery education and services. A practical, easy-to-read guide to practising caseload midwifery, this book outlines the contemporary political and professional context for midwifery care, different models of care, and the evidence and outcomes associated with continuity of carer. It discusses the real-life concerns, challenges and opportunities of working closely with women throughout their pregnancy and birth, covering key issues such as risk assessment, consent, boundaries, time management, documentation, communication, burnout and decision-making. Supporting the development of midwives from students to newly qualified professionals and beyond, it ends with a chapter containing a range of resources for reference, including helpful tools and worksheets. Including vignettes from students, qualified midwives, and women and their partners, this book is designed for anyone new to practising midwifery continuity of care.

Continuity of care in midwifery - the most traditional way of practising - has been overlooked for much of the last century but is re-emerging as an evidence-based model of care, one which is known to benefit women. This book is a vital companion to students and qualified midwives as continuity of care is integrated into midwifery education and services. A practical, easy-to-read guide to practising caseload midwifery, this book outlines the contemporary political and professional context for midwifery care, different models of care, and the evidence and outcomes associated with continuity of carer. It discusses the real-life concerns, challenges and opportunities of working closely with women throughout their pregnancy and birth, covering key issues such as risk assessment, consent, boundaries, time management, documentation, communication, burnout and decision-making. Supporting the development of midwives from students to newly qualified professionals and beyond, it ends with a chapter containing a range of resources for reference, including helpful tools and worksheets. Including vignettes from students, qualified midwives, and women and their partners, this book is designed for anyone new to practising midwifery continuity of care.

* Skills-based: most books on burnout or compassion fatigue are largely signs, symptoms, and "self-care". This book defines concrete, acquirable skills. There is significant clamoring in the field for "what we do about it." * Evidence-Informed: The guidance offered in this book derives from an evidence-base. * Trauma-Informed: The foundation for trauma-informed treatment is the emotion regulation skills of the provider. The treatment professional must be emotionally regulated to effectively implement any trauma treatment--and a commitment to care for oneself can keep professionals in the field for a career.

This accessible book uses case studies to explore issues around intimacy, sexual function and sexual development over the lifespan, introducing applied principles and practices when working with sexuality-related issues. Introducing an easy-to-use 'Reflect and Respond' model as a framework for interactions, this book discusses a broad selection of topics and life stages, including hidden loss, gender identity, disability, early years experiences and older age. Exposing anonymized real-life experiences of intimacy, sexual function, and sexual development from birth to end of life, this book develops the reader's insight into sexual wellbeing and confidence in communicating about it. The experiential learning and research-based content in readable style will educate and inspire readers with an interest in sexual wellbeing and how this impacts on physical and mental health. Demonstrating how being open to talk about sex and intimacy can change lives, this guide is suitable for a wide range of health and social care professionals, including nurses, doctors, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists and counsellors.

That maternity staff are under pressure, with many leaving their jobs each year, is well known. Personal sacrifices, long working hours, lack of resources and an overstretched system take their toll, and occasionally staff are involved in traumatic and emotionally difficult situations. Many tolerate these conditions in the service of doing a job they love, but what happens to their mental health over time? Nurturing Maternity Staff explains how the system and individuals within it relate to each other, highlighting both the vital role compassionate leadership has in creating psychologically safe working environments, as well as tools individuals can use to optimise their own mental wellbeing. Let's dare to dream maternity services could be different.

To be at the birth of a baby is special, yet there is an increasing secularisation and reliance on technology in contemporary maternity care, particularly in the western context. Through exploration of experiences at birth this book explores joy at birth, which is often ignored and overlooked beyond the activities that help to ensure survival. This book draws on a collection of stories of birth from mothers, birth partners, obstetricians and midwives, that demonstrate joy at birth across professional groups and in different types of births and locations with or without technological interventions. Each chapter introduces stories of joy that highlight embodied, spatial and relational meanings. Employing the Heideggerian notion of a human being, it sketches out an ontological focus that draws our gaze to the everyday taken-for-granted ways of being at birth. Based on phenomenological experiential data and rigorous interpretive analysis underpinned by seminal philosophical writings, this book calls for readers to attend to the wholeness of birth in all situations and at all births in ways not attempted before. It will be of great interest to midwives, and those working in and studying maternity, obstetrics and neonatology, as well as social and medical anthropology, sociology, cultural, organisational and clinical psychology and spirituality.

Getting Old offers concise advice and practical suggestions for all readers interested in or worried about ageing, either in themselves or in someone they care about. With a focus on a positive view of ageing, it discusses central physical and mental aspects of getting old, as well as the social and psychological aspects such as choosing where to live and becoming more oneself. Rowan Bayne and Carol Parkes take a pragmatic approach to reviewing what is happening in many aspects of your life as you age. Essential topics covered include mobility; diet and digestion; understanding and improving sleep; memory problems and dementia; being an active participant in consultations about your own healthcare; attitudes to getting old; romantic relationships and loneliness; deciding where to live, moving house and choosing other types of living arrangements; and death and grief. They invite readers to focus on their own life and experience, to understand who they are and what they really want now. An important part of self-understanding is the application of personality theory to changes associated with getting old, and readers are encouraged to reflect on what might work for people with their personality characteristics, and how to improve their stress management, communication and decision making. With suggestions for further reading and useful organisations that offer support, Getting Old offers valuable, affirming guidance for all those and their relatives going through this life stage, as well as health, social care and counselling students and professionals.

Getting Old offers concise advice and practical suggestions for all readers interested in or worried about ageing, either in themselves or in someone they care about. With a focus on a positive view of ageing, it discusses central physical and mental aspects of getting old, as well as the social and psychological aspects such as choosing where to live and becoming more oneself. Rowan Bayne and Carol Parkes take a pragmatic approach to reviewing what is happening in many aspects of your life as you age. Essential topics covered include mobility; diet and digestion; understanding and improving sleep; memory problems and dementia; being an active participant in consultations about your own healthcare; attitudes to getting old; romantic relationships and loneliness; deciding where to live, moving house and choosing other types of living arrangements; and death and grief. They invite readers to focus on their own life and experience, to understand who they are and what they really want now. An important part of self-understanding is the application of personality theory to changes associated with getting old, and readers are encouraged to reflect on what might work for people with their personality characteristics, and how to improve their stress management, communication and decision making. With suggestions for further reading and useful organisations that offer support, Getting Old offers valuable, affirming guidance for all those and their relatives going through this life stage, as well as health, social care and counselling students and professionals.

An Introduction to Human-Animal Relationships is a comprehensive introduction to the field of human-animal interaction from a psychological perspective across a wide range of themes. Hollin examines the topic of the relationships between humans and animals as seen in owning a companion animal alongside more indirect relationships such as our approaches to eating meat. The core issues under discussion include the moral and ethical issues raised in using animals for entertainment, in therapy, to keep us safe, and in sports such as horse racing. The justifications for hunting and killing animals as sport and using animals in scientific experimentation are considered. The closing chapter looks to the future and considers how conservation and climate change may influence human-animal relationships. This key text brings an important perspective to the field of human-animal studies and will be useful to students and scholars in the fields of psychology, sociology, animal welfare, anthrozoology, veterinary science, and zoology.