Environmental awareness and sustainability are vitally important concepts in the twenty first century and, as a low environmental impact healthcare profession, midwifery has the potential to stand as a model of excellence. This innovative volume promotes a sustainable approach to midwifery practice, philosophy, business administration and resource management. Drawing on an interdisciplinary body of knowledge, this international collection of experts explores the challenges, inviting readers to critically reflect on the issues and consider how they could move to effect changes within their own working environments. Divided into three parts, the book discusses: The politics of midwifery and sustainability Midwifery as a sustainable healthcare practice Supporting an ecological approach to parenting. Sustainability, Midwifery and Birth identifies existing models of sustainable midwifery practice, such as the continuity of care model, and highlights the potential for midwifery as a role model for ecologically sound health care provision. This unique book is a vital read for all midwives and midwifery students interested in sustainable practice. Contributors include: Sally Baddock, Carol Bartle, Ruth Deery, Nadine Pilley Edwards, Ina May Gaskin, Megan Gibbons, Carolyn Hastie, Mary Kensington, Mavis Kirkham, Nicky Leap, Ruth Martis, Zoë Meleo-Erwin, Jenny Meyer, Jo Murphy-Lawless, Mary Nolan, Sally Pairman and Sally Tracy.

This new edition outlines how sustainability can be incorporated into midwifery practice, education and research. It has been thoroughly revised to include new models of sustainable midwifery practice and new chapters on rural midwives and rural communities, social justice, and compassion. Environmental awareness and sustainability are vitally important concepts and, as a low environmental impact healthcare profession, midwifery has the potential to stand as a model of excellence. This international collection of experts explores the challenges, inviting readers to critically reflect on the issues and consider how they could move to effect changes within their own working environments. Divided into three parts, the book discusses: The politics of midwifery and sustainability Midwifery as a sustainable healthcare practice Supporting an ecological approach to parenting. Sustainability, Midwifery and Birth is a vital read for all midwives and midwifery students interested in sustainable practice.

This contributed volume explores flexible, adaptable, and sustainable solutions to the shockingly high costs of birth across the globe. It presents innovative and collaborative maternity care practices and policies that are intersectional, human rights-based, transdisciplinary, science-driven, and community-based. Each chapter describes participatory and midwifery-oriented care that helps improve maternal and newborn outcomes within minoritized populations. The featured case studies respond to resource constraints and inequities of access by transforming relations between providers and families or by creating more egalitarian relations among diverse providers such as midwives, obstetricians, and nurses that minimize inefficient hierarchies within maternity care. The authors build on a growing awareness that quality and respectful midwifery care has lower costs and improved outcomes for child bearers, newborns, and providers. Topics include: Sustainable collaborations including transfers of care among midwives and obstetricians in India, The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, and Denmark Midwifery-oriented, femifocal, indigenous, and inclusive models of care that counter obstetric violence and gender stereotypes in Mexico, Chile, Guatemala, Argentina, and India Doula care and midwifery care for women of color, previously incarcerated women, indigenous women, and other minoritized groups in the global north and south Practices and metrics for improving quality of newborn and maternal care as well as maternal and newborn outcomes in disruptive times and disaster settings Sustainable Birth in Disruptive Times is an essential and timely resource for providers, policy makers, students, and activists with interests in maternity care, midwifery, medical anthropology, maternal health, newborn health, obstetrics, childbirth, medicine, and global health in disruptive times.

The delivery of high quality and equitable care for both mothers and newborns is complex and requires efforts across many sectors. The United States spends more on childbirth than any other country in the world, yet outcomes are worse than other high-resource countries, and even worse for Black and Native American women. There are a variety of factors that influence childbirth, including social determinants such as income, educational levels, access to care, financing, transportation, structural racism and geographic variability in birth settings. It is important to reevaluate the United States' approach to maternal and newborn care through the lens of these factors across multiple disciplines. Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice reviews and evaluates maternal and newborn care in the United States, the epidemiology of social and clinical risks in pregnancy and childbirth, birth settings research, and access to and choice of birth settings.

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.

Perfect for: • Bachelor of Midwifery students • Postgraduate Midwifery students • Combined Nursing degree students • Combined Nursing degree students Midwifery: Preparation for Practice 3e is the definitive midwifery text for Australian and New Zealand midwifery students. The third edition continues to reinforce the established principles of midwifery philosophy and practice—that of working in partnership with women and midwifery autonomy in practice and from this perspective, presents the midwife as a primary healthcare practitioner. It carefully examines the very different maternity care systems in Australia and New Zealand, exploring both autonomous and collaborative practice and importantly documents the recent reforms in Australian midwifery practice. Midwifery: Preparation for Practice 3e places women and their babies safely at the centre of midwifery practice and will guide, inform and inspire midwifery students, recent graduates and experienced midwives alike. • Key contributors from Australia and New Zealand • Critical Thinking Exercises and Research Activities • Midwifery Practice Scenarios • Reflective Thinking Exercises and Case Studies • Instructor and Student resources on Evolve, including Test Bank questions, answers to Review Questions and PowerPoint presentations. • New chapter on Models of Health • Increased content on cultural considerations, human rights, sustainability, mental health, obesity in pregnancy, communication in complex situations, intervention, complications in pregnancy and birth and assisted reproduction • Midwifery Practice Scenarios throughout.

Many midwives also experience powerlessness and loss of control as professionals as a result of these same settings and practices, and those midwives who are themselves CSA survivors bring a particularly acute awareness of this and of the needs of survivor mothers. This unique study sets out to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of these mothers by exploring them alongside the parallel experiences of survivor midwives. It explores the insights and reflections they together bring to midwifery, and the positive results of more collaborative, personal, communicative and ultimately empowering practices for all involved.