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Ensuring the Well-Being of Mothers and Infants by Strengthening Midwifery...
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Ensuring the Well-Being of Mothers and Infants by Strengthening Midwifery Services: From Evidence to Practice

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Perinatal and Neonatal Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 6204

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Hong Lu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Nursing, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: midwifery care; maternal and child care; midwifery education and policy; health care management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Improving the ability to consistently provide good quality care is fundamental for universal health coverage. When it comes to the well-being of mothers and infants, high-quality midwifery services can provide huge benefits. As part of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights, midwives are leaders in promoting health and well-being and upholding human rights. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) specify that reducing maternal mortality and morbidity and improving the overall quality of maternal health care are critical for achieving these goals. Moreover, effective midwife interventions could avert more than 80% of all maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths that occur in recent times. From maternal and newborn care to infection prevention and control, family planning, safe abortion, and addressing gender-based violence, midwives play a critical role in improving health outcomes across the world. However, due to differences in political, economic, and cultural contexts, healthcare systems and models of care for pregnant women vary from country to country.

This Special Issue, “Ensuring the Well-Being of Mothers and Infants by Strengthening Midwifery Services: From Evidence to Practice” aims to provide global, evidence-informed recommendations to improve the well-being of mothers and infants.

We welcome original studies, reviews, and other types of articles that provide clinical evidence to improve the quality of current midwifery services, and are open to papers in a variety of areas related to maternal and infant well-being.

We hope that this Special Issue will be of interest to researchers, midwives, clinicians, educators in various fields, policymakers, officials, and politicians to enhance the capacity and quality of midwifery services.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Hong Lu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • maternal health care
  • infant health care
  • well-being
  • midwifery
  • evidence-based practice
  • high quality of service

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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12 pages, 231 KiB  
Article
Midwives’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Professional Practices Regarding Prenatal Physical Activity
by Émilie Brunet-Pagé, Marie-Claude Rivard and Stephanie-May Ruchat
Healthcare 2025, 13(5), 576; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13050576 - 6 Mar 2025
Viewed by 594
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Prenatal physical activity (PA) offers numerous health benefits for both the mother and her child, yet few pregnant women are sufficiently active enough to obtain these benefits. Midwives play an important role in promoting prenatal PA. However, little is known about the [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Prenatal physical activity (PA) offers numerous health benefits for both the mother and her child, yet few pregnant women are sufficiently active enough to obtain these benefits. Midwives play an important role in promoting prenatal PA. However, little is known about the content of the information they share with their clients regarding prenatal PA, how they communicate it, and the personal factors that might influence their counseling. In the context of prenatal PA guidance, the aim of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes, professional practices, and communication methods used by midwives. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between February and June 2024 among midwives working in the Province of Quebec. An electronic questionnaire including both closed (quantitative data) and open-ended (qualitative data) questions was developed. Results: Fifty midwives were included in the analysis. Only 28 (56%) reported being aware of the latest Canadian guidelines for PA throughout pregnancy. The recommendations provided varied in terms of content and accuracy but were often conservative (i.e., not focused on increasing PA). Forty-five (90%) mentioned providing information on PA to their pregnant client, and eighty-four (84%) said they used bidirectional communication to share this information. The vast majority (84%) did not consider their counseling to be optimal, primarily due to a lack of training and knowledge. Conclusions: Our finding allowed us to gain a better understanding of current midwifery knowledge, attitudes, and professional practices regarding prenatal PA and to initiate a reflection on how to improve their knowledge, skills, and confidence in guiding their client toward prenatal PA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ensuring the Well-Being of Mothers and Infants by Strengthening Midwifery Services: From Evidence to Practice)

Other

Jump to: Research

14 pages, 2598 KiB  
Systematic Review
Effects of Perineal Warm Compresses during the Second Stage of Labor on Reducing Perineal Trauma and Relieving Postpartum Perineal Pain in Primiparous Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses
by Ruiyang Sun, Jing Huang, Xiu Zhu, Rui Hou, Yu Zang, Yuxuan Li, Jingyu Pan and Hong Lu
Healthcare 2024, 12(7), 702; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12070702 - 22 Mar 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5026
Abstract
Non-pharmaceutical midwifery techniques, including perineal warm compresses, to improve maternal outcomes remain controversial. The aims of this study are to assess the effects of perineal warm compresses on reducing perineal trauma and postpartum perineal pain relief. This systematic review included randomized controlled trials [...] Read more.
Non-pharmaceutical midwifery techniques, including perineal warm compresses, to improve maternal outcomes remain controversial. The aims of this study are to assess the effects of perineal warm compresses on reducing perineal trauma and postpartum perineal pain relief. This systematic review included randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We searched seven bibliographic databases, three RCT register websites, and two dissertation databases for publications from inception to 15 March 2023. Chinese and English publications were included. Two independent reviewers conducted the risk of bias assessment, data extraction, and the evaluation of the certainty of the evidence utilizing the Cochrane risk of bias 2.0 assessment criteria, the Review Manager 5.4, and the online GRADEpro tool, respectively. Seven RCTs involving 1362 primiparous women were included. The combined results demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the second-, third- and/or fourth- degree perineal lacerations, the incidence of episiotomy, and the relief of the short-term perineal pain postpartum (within two days). There was a potential favorable effect on improving the integrity of the perineum. However, the results did not show a statistically significant supportive effect on reducing first-degree perineal lacerations and the rate of perineal lacerations requiring sutures. In summary, perineal warm compresses effectively reduced the second-, third-/or fourth-degree perineal trauma and decreased the short-term perineal pain after birth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ensuring the Well-Being of Mothers and Infants by Strengthening Midwifery Services: From Evidence to Practice)
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