The new edition of this ground-breaking text is an essential resource for the management of drugs during pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period. Fully updated in line with current midwifery practice, it includes new chapters on Disorders of the Immune System and Recreational Drugs, and expanded coverage of pain relief.

Based on the accounts of midwives, their descendants, and the women they served, "In the Way of Our Grandmothers" tells of the midwife's trade--her principles, traditions, and skills--and of the competing medical profession's successful program to systematically destroy the practice.

The rural South was one of the last strongholds of the traditional "granny" midwife. Whether she came by her trade through individual choice or inherited a practice from an older relative, a woman who accepted the "call" of midwife launched a lifelong vocation of public service. While the profession was arduous, it had numerous rewards. Midwives assumed positions of leadership within their communities, were able to define themselves and their actions on their own terms, and derived a great sense of pride and satisfaction from performing a much-loved job.

Despite national statistics that placed midwives above all other attendants in low childbirth mortality, Florida's state health experts began in the early twentieth century to view the craft as a menace to public health. Efforts to regulate midwives through education and licensing were part of a long-term plan to replace them with modern medical and hospital services. Eager to demonstrate their good will and common interest, most midwives complied with the increasingly restrictive rules imposed by the state, unknowingly contributing to the demise of their own profession.

The recent interest of the youthful middle class in home birth methods has been accompanied by a rediscovery of the midwife's craft. Yet the new midwifery represents the state's successful attainment of a long-awaited goal: the replacement of the traditional lay midwife with the modern nurse-midwife. "In the Way of Our Grandmothers" provides a voice for the few women in the South who still remember the earlier trade--one that evolved organically from the needs of women and existed outside the realms of men.

Midwifery is used to describe a number of different types of health practitioners, other than doctors, who provide prenatal care to expecting mothers, attend the birth of the infant and provide postnatal care to the mother and infant. Nurse-midwives also provide gynaecological care to women of all ages. Practitioners of midwifery are known as midwives, a term used in reference to both women and men (the term means "with the woman"). Most are independent practitioners who work with obstetricians when the need arises. They usually deal with normal births only but are trained to recognise and deal with deviation from the norm. If something abnormal is discovered during prenatal care, the client is sent to an obstetrician. Other midwives will deal with abnormal births, including breech birth. There are two main divisions of modern midwifery in the United States, nurse-midwives and direct-entry midwives. In the United Kingdom midwives are practitioners in their own right, and take responsibility for the antenatal, intrapartum and immediate postnatal care of women. In many parts of the world, midwives delivery far more children than doctors. This new book brings together the latest research on this ever-changing field.

This book provides an introduction to the sociological study of midwifery. The readings have been selected to highlight the interplay between midwifery and medicine, reflecting the medicalisation of childbirth. It highlights the major themes in both a historical and a current context, as well as western and non-western societies. Two major themes underlie the organisation of this book: that the conception of midwifery must be broadened to encompass a sociological perspective; and that the ongoing trend toward the medicalisation of midwifery is crucial to an understanding of the historical, current, and future status of midwifery. By medicalisation of childbirth and midwifery the author mean the increasing tendency for women to prefer a hospital delivery to a home delivery, the increasing trend toward the use of technology and clinical intervention in childbirth, and the determination of medical practitioners to confine the role played by midwives in pregnancy and childbirth, if any, to a purely subordinate one.

Despite our country's affluence and high-tech advances in neonatal intensive care, in 1994 the U.S. ranked twenty-first in infant mortality rates among developed countries with populations over 2.5 million. Women with low-risk pregnancies are frequently failed by the traditional obstetrical system, either because they cannot afford proper prenatal care—and therefore often give birth to babies who need to be assisted by expensive neonatal intensive care—or because the system fosters an attitude of dependency on doctors, surgery and drugs, rather than a sense of empowerment during the birth process. This enlightening book demonstrates with conviction that childbirth can and should be a process of empowerment, and that midwifery should be the standard of care for women with low-risk pregnancies. Diary of a Midwife, written by a certified nurse-midwife and the founder of the first nurse-midwifery graduate education program in Virginia, is based on the author's 13 years delivering babies in rural Virginia. Through the author's experiences as a midwife, mother of three, and veteran of training as a labor and delivery nurse in a busy hospital's maternity ward, the midwife care alternative is revealed to be the best way for healthy women to be collaborators in their own care. Midwives encourage women to develop their inner power for the birth process by providing teaching, support, and comfort. Adequate prenatal care reduces the number of premature and low-birth weight babies, and costly, traumatic medical interventions such as Cesarean and forceps deliveries, episiotomies and routine anesthesia are often avoided. Author Juliana van Olphen-Fehr movingly shows that midwifery is an art and that it can do much to create mothers who are able to greet their newborns with dignified, loving, and strong arms. _

This work provides insight into the subjective experience of stillbirth, miscarriage and pregnancy, and the professional response. It has grown out of interviews with women and with the range of health professionals who were significant in their care. These experiences are drawn upon to explore the dilemmas in offering good care, and to suggest ways in which practice might be improved.

As women increasingly seek more humanistic birthing methods than the hospital-based delivery, certified midwife Susanna Napierala suggests that water birth offers mother and infant the ideal circumstances for beginning their lives together. Warm water, explains the author, reduces the hours and stress of labor, offers bodily support and relaxes blood flow, helping to ease the baby's journey. The baby makes its transition to breathing air in a familiar, gentle medium. Avoiding the didactics of ideology, Napierala infuses her eloquent text with answers to commonly-asked questions: How does the baby breathe underwater? What about complications or infections? For whom is water birth a viable choice? How does a couple prepare for it? Water Birth guides the reader through the details of parental and midwife preparation, labor, and birth, noting danger signals that must be heeded. Here is a wealth of solid information, personal testimony, and instruction for those who make this choice. Giving birth is one of life's most enriching, yet emotionally and physiologically stressful experiences. Faced with the dehumanizing mandates of the medical establishment, women increasingly seek alternatives to hospital birth. In her carefully presented book, Susanna Napierala, midwife to more than 600 births over 18 years, suggests that giving birth in water offers mother and infant the ideal circumstances for beginning their lives together. Recognizing that this birthing approach is not yet widely practiced in the United States, Napierala readily acknowledges the commonly-asked questions: How does the baby breathe underwater? What about complications or infections? What specifically makes water birth a viable choice, and for whom? How do a couple and their chosen midwife prepare for water birth? Avoiding ideological didactics, the author cautions that, regardless of a couple's expectations of the birth experience, every pregnancy's priority should be a healthy mother and baby. As she details aspects of parental and midwife preparation, labor, and birth, Napierala counsels vigilance, noting possible difficulties and danger signals that must be heeded. For midwives, their assistants, pregnant women and their families considering birth options, Water Birth offers a wealth of solid information, personal testimony, and guidance for those who make this choice.

Jane Dwinell has written an important book using real-life scenarios to illustrate her unique philosophy of childbirth, one that can only inspire women to take greater control over how and where they give birth. From her vantage point as a birth attendant, Dwinell recounts the moving birth experiences of twenty different women. Thus the reader learns that there are no "right" or "wrong" ways to give birth. In fact, the author shows how satisfying it can be for women to exercise their own power of choice in the birth process instead of yielding to unnecessary technological and medical interventions. Birth, she says, is a process of wellness, not illness. Hence, most women don't need medication to help them deal with normal birth pains if they yeild to the strength within their own bodies, and if they have the proper support during labor. When women give birth in a comfortable setting of their choice, the medical wrongs against them, committed in hospitals in the name of "safety" and technology, are prevented. In the face of opposition from an entrenched segment of the medical establishment, Dwinell dares the view that hospital care should not be routine but should be given only with good reason and the women's permission. For pregnant women and their partners, Birth Stories makes a convincing argument that under normal circumstances each women's intuitive knowledge and individual resources can help her to labor and give birth successfully in her own way. Nurses, midwives, doctors, and birth educators will find it useful to realize that there are many ways to give birth . . . that it is important for the family to be together and make their own choices . . . and that pregnant women canhave safe births without excessive medical intervention. Finally, Birth Stories also serves as a unique guide for those professionals who are seeking a woman-centered birth model for their institutions.

"Not of woman born, the Fortunate, the Unborn"—the terms designating those born by Caesarean section in medieval and Renaissance Europe were mysterious and ambiguous. Examining representations of Caesarean birth in legend and art and tracing its history in medical writing, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski addresses the web of religious, ethical, and cultural questions concerning abdominal delivery in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Not of Woman Born increases our understanding of the history of the medical profession, of medical iconography, and of ideas surrounding "unnatural" childbirth. Blumenfeld-Kosinski compares texts and visual images in order to trace the evolution of Caesarean birth as it was perceived by the main actors involved—pregnant women, medical practitioners, and artistic or literary interpreters. Bringing together medical treatises and texts as well as hitherto unexplored primary sources such as manuscript illuminations, she provides a fresh perspective on attitudes toward pregnancy and birth in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; the meaning and consequences of medieval medicine for women as both patients and practitioners, and the professionalization of medicine. She discusses writings on Caesarean birth from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when Church Councils ordered midwives to perform the operation if a mother died during childbirth in order that the child might be baptized; to the fourteenth century, when the first medical text, Bernard of Gordon's Lilium medicinae, mentioned the operation; up to the gradual replacement of midwives by male surgeons in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Not of Woman Born offers the first close analysis of Frarnois Rousset's 1581 treatise on the operation as an example of sixteenth-century medical discourse. It also considers the ambiguous nature of Caesarean birth, drawing on accounts of such miraculous examples as the birth of the Antichrist. An appendix reviews the complex etymological history of the term "Caesarean section." Richly interdisciplinary, Not of Woman Born will enliven discussions of the controversial issues surrounding Caesarean delivery today. Medical, social, and cultural historians interested in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, historians, literary scholars, midwives, obstetricians, nurses, and others concerned with women's history will want to read it.

The complete textbook on complementary therapies in maternity care, this book addresses how midwives and other birth professionals can use or advise on complementary therapies for pregnant, labouring and new mothers. Almost 90% of women may be using complementary therapies during pregnancy and birth, and increasingly midwives and doulas incorporate therapies into their care of women, so it is vital that they and other professionals in the maternity care field are aware of safe and appropriate use based on contemporary evidence. Therapies covered include acupuncture, herbal medicine, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, yoga, massage and hypnosis. This complete guide to complementary therapies in pregnancy and childbirth covers safety, effectiveness, evidence, benefits and risks, legal, ethical and professional issues based on accurate and up-to-date research.

This book addresses the politics of global health and social justice issues around birth, focusing on dynamic communities that have chosen to speak truth to power by reforming dysfunctional health care systems or creating new ones outside the box. The chapters present models of childbirth at extreme ends of a spectrum-from the conflict zones and disaster areas of Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, and Indonesia, to high-risk tertiary care settings in China, Canada, Australia, and Turkey. Debunking notions about best care, the volume illustrates how human rights in health care are on a collision course with global capitalism and offers a number of specific solutions to this ever-increasing problem. This volume will be a valuable resource for scholars and students in anthropology, sociology, health, and midwifery, as well as for practitioners, policy makers, and organizations focused on birth or on social activism in any arena.

Concise practical guidance to managing an Obstetric High Dependency unit

The team and clinical environment is the starting point for the "Handbook of Obstetric High Dependency Care." The book discusses the structure and requirements of a unit, both clinically and in terms of equipment, protocols and management aims. The main sections cover the investigation, diagnosis and management of clinical disease resulting from pregnancy and incidental to it.

We have written this book because the story it tells warrants a wide audience. We see the purpose of this book as informing discussion and decision-making around reconfigurations of maternity care, so that planning, communication, management and recruitment can be improved and shared vision articulated and understood.A" Throughout the world, women-centred care is gaining prominence in providing maternity care. Many birth centres open each year to meet this need - but at the same time, many close or are shelved. So why should the turnover in organisations that deliver such a vital service to women be so high, thwarting many midwives from practising as they would wish? This carefully researched and passionate book tells the story of a birth centre that did fail, and the painful but valuable lessons it presents for others. Many of the issues and behaviours illustrated - lack of leadership, support, vision and plain-dealing, and tensions between bureaucracy and women-centred care - will find resonance in maternity services and midwifery experiences in the UK and throughout the world. Tensions and Barriers in Improving Maternity Care is a vital and challenging resource for all midwives, managers and policy makers and shapers with an interest in maternity and women-centred care. "A remarkably detailed analysis of the politics of a birth centre trapped in a medicalised system that threatened and rapidly destroyed it. It is a vivid example of how autonomous midwifery is undermined by an organisational structure in which management focuses exclusively on one model of care." - From the Foreword by Sheila Kitzinger 'I would recommend this powerful book to all supervisors of midwives as it provides profound insights into the impact of loss and grief upon the midwives who are often left feeling isolated and vulnerable when dealing with difficult circumstances.' - Nessa McHugh, lecturer in midwifery at Edinburgh Napier University, and leader of the Preparation and Practice of Supervisors of Midwives programme.

Offers state-of-the-art analyses of the new midwifery Midwifery in the developed world is in a state of ferment and change - a phenomenon referred to as the new midwifery. Reconceiving Midwifery offers state-of-the-art analyses of the new midwifery as it is practiced. The authors - social scientists and midwifery practitioners - reflect on regional differences in the emerging profession, providing a systematic account of its historical, local, and international roots, its evolving regulatory status, and the degree to which it has been integrated into health care systems.

This companion Study Guide for Essentials of Maternity, Newborn, and Women's Health Nursing reinforces key concepts covered in the textbook and includes a variety of question types and exercises that make it easy to remember essential information and build critical-thinking skills. Each chapter is broken down into three sections: * Section I: Assessing Your Understanding presents a variety of labeling, sequencing, matching, short-answer, true and false, and fill-in-the-blank questions to test comprehension of key concepts. * Section II: Applying Your Knowledge consists of case studies and exercises to enhance critical-thinking skills. * Section III: Practicing for NCLEX helps students prepare for the exam with a variety of NCLEX-style review questions.

First published in 1690, " The Court Midwife" made Justine Siegemund (1636-1705) the spokesperson for the art of midwifery at a time when most obstetrical texts were written by men. More than a technical manual, "The Court Midwife" contains descriptions of obstetric techniques of midwifery and its attendant social pressures. Siegemund's visibility as a writer, midwife, and proponent of an incipient professionalism accorded her a status virtually unknown to German women in the seventeenth century. Translated here into English for the first time, "The Court Midwife" contains riveting birthing scenes, sworn testimonials by former patients, and a brief autobiography.

The main aim of this practical "Handbook" is to strengthen counselling and communication skills of skilled attendants (SAs) and other health providers, helping them to effectively discuss with women, families and communities the key issues surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, postnatal and post-abortion care. "Counselling for Maternal and Newborn Health Care" is divided into three main sections. Part 1 is an introduction which describes the aims and objectives and the general layout of the Handbook. Part 2 describes the counselling process and outlines the six key steps to effective counselling. It explores the counselling context and factors that influence this context including the socio-economic, gender, and cultural environment. A series of guiding principles is introduced and specific counselling skills are outlined. Part 3 focuses on different maternal and newborn health topics, including general care in the home during pregnancy; birth and emergency planning; danger signs in pregnancy; post-abortion care; support during labor; postnatal care of the mother and newborn; family planning counselling; breastfeeding; women with HIV/AIDS; death and bereavement; women and violence; linking with the community.Each Session contains specific aims and objectives, clearly outlining the skills that will be developed and corresponding learning outcomes. Practical activities have been designed to encourage reflection, provoke discussions, build skills and ensure the local relevance of information. There is a review at the end of each session to ensure the SAs have understood the key points before they progress to subsequent sessions.

Help your students prepare for effective maternity nursing practice! This updated 4th Edition of Susan Ricci s practical text provides students with the essential information they need to care for women and their families, and also to assist them in making the right choices safely, intelligently, and with confidence. With integrated case studies and nursing procedures throughout, the text takes a nursing process approach, builds on previously mastered content, and includes much that is new, including increased coverage of the cultural and global aspects of maternity and women s health care. KEY FEATURES Revised Unfolding Case Studies in every chapter, now paired with patient photos, give students an opportunity to apply concepts to real-life scenarios. Up-to-date Nursing Procedures provide clear, step-by-step explanations, along with illustrations of variations in nursing care, to help students master vital skills. New Bringing It All Together Case Studies begin in the end-of-chapter worksheets and unfold online, providing extended opportunities for students to connect learning to practice. New! Concept Mastery Alerts improve students understanding of potentially confusing topics as identified by Lippincott s Adaptive Learning Powered by prepU. Updated Teaching Guidelines, now with rationales, prepare students to educate families. Additional evidence-based research findings promote evidence-based maternity nursing practice and interventions. More than 700 NCLEX-Style Review Questions help students review important concepts and prepare for the NCLEX-RN. This leading content is also incorporated into Lippincott CoursePoint+, a dynamic learning solution that integrates this book s curriculum, adaptive learning tools, virtual simulations, real-time data reporting, and the latest evidence-based practice content together into one powerful student learning solution. Lippincott CoursePoint+ improves the nursing students critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills to prepare them for practice. Learn more at www.NursingEducationSuccess.com/CoursePoint."