Supporting Women to Give Birth at Home describes and discusses the main challenges and issues that midwives and maternity services encounter when preparing for and attending a home birth. To ensure that a home birth is a real option for women, midwives need to be able to believe in a woman's ability to give birth at home and to promote this birth option, providing evidence-based information about benefits and risks. This practical guide will help midwives to have the necessary skills, resources and confidence to support homebirth. The book includes: the present birth choices a woman has the implications homebirth has upon midwifery practice how midwives can prepare and support women and their families the midwife's role and responsibilities national and local policies, guidelines and available resources pain management options With a range of recent home birth case studies brought together in the final chapter, this accessible text provides a valuable insight into those considering homebirth. Supporting Women to Give Birth at Home will be of interest to students studying issues around normal birth and will be an important resource for clinically based midwives, in particular community based midwives, home birth midwifery teams, independent midwives, and all who are interested in homebirth as a genuine choice.

Supporting Women to Give Birth at Home describes and discusses the main challenges and issues that midwives and maternity services encounter when preparing for and attending a home birth. To ensure that a home birth is a real option for women, midwives need to be able to believe in a woman's ability to give birth at home and to promote this birth option, providing evidence-based information about benefits and risks. This practical guide will help midwives to have the necessary skills, resources and confidence to support homebirth. The book includes: the present birth choices a woman has the implications homebirth has upon midwifery practice how midwives can prepare and support women and their families the midwife's role and responsibilities national and local policies, guidelines and available resources pain management options With a range of recent home birth case studies brought together in the final chapter, this accessible text provides a valuable insight into those considering homebirth. Supporting Women to Give Birth at Home will be of interest to students studying issues around normal birth and will be an important resource for clinically based midwives, in particular community based midwives, home birth midwifery teams, independent midwives, and all who are interested in homebirth as a genuine choice.

Mental wellbeing is an integral part of being, and feeling, healthy, and it is estimated that one in four people will suffer from some form of mental illness during their lifetime. In spite of this, it is often overlooked in mainstream healthcare. The overall aim of this book is to provide knowledge and understanding of how mental health affects human beings from conception through to end-of-life, and the challenges that society as a whole has to address in the treatment of mental health. Beginning with an exploration of historical, social and cultural contexts, the book then goes on to discuss mental health care, and mental health promotion, during pregnancy and early parenthood, childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, adulthood for both men and women, and in older people. Containing reflective exercises, the chapters are designed to provide an easily-accessible and engagingly-written introduction to mental health. Containing chapters that can be read and reviewed in isolation, or used as an entire text, Mental Health Across the Lifespan: A Handbook provides a solid introduction to mental health for students. The book will also act as a useful reference for doctors, nurses, midwives, health visitors, allied health professionals, and health and social care support workers who have no specialist mental health training but often work in partnership with, and care for, people suffering from mental health issues.