Background/Objectives: Respectful maternity care involves privacy, dignity, and informed choice within the process of delivery as stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Informed consent is a cornerstone of patient-centered care, represent...
Background/Objectives: Clinical childbirth in high-income countries is increasingly shaped by standardised routines that do not always accommodate individual preferences. In Germany, approximately one in eight pregnant persons experiences clinically...
1 December 2020
Provision of antenatal care includes risk identification, prevention and management of pregnancy-related diseases, but also health education, health promotion, support and guidance to smooth the transition to parenthood. To ensure good perinatal heal...
19 January 2023
Building experience in midwife-led care at freestanding midwifery units is needed to enhance assessment, technical, and care competencies specific to midwives. This study aimed to develop a self-assessment scale for midwifery practice competency base...
Background: Autonomy in decision making is a critical component of respectful, person-centered maternity care. The Mother’s Autonomy in Decision Making (MADM) scale has been widely used internationally to evaluate women’s perceptions of a...
Introduction: Bangladesh introduced professional midwives in 2018 to address gaps in sexual and reproductive health services, focusing on improved maternity care. Facility mentoring has been introduced in selected facilities within the government to...
30 October 2024
Participating in antenatal clinics is a major determinant in reducing poor maternal and neonatal birth outcomes. We aimed to evaluate the utilization of antenatal clinic (ANC) services provided by a mobile clinic led by skilled midwives and determine...
Background: Internationally, midwives’ professional autonomy is being challenged, resulting in their inability to practice to their full scope of practice. This situation contrasts with the increasing international calls for strengthening the m...
29 September 2026
Facility-based birth is an important strategy for reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, yet institutionalization has also been associated with overmedicalized and disrespectful care. Midwifery centers (MCs) may offer an alternative, but evidence...
Background: Midwifery’s Intangible Heritage was officially recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 6 December 2023, highlighting that elements of midwifery knowledge and practice, shaped over genera...
22 May 2020
The disrespect and abuse (D&A) of women during childbirth is common and a great concern in midwifery-led obstetric units (MOUs) in South Africa. This paper used the seven chapters of the Respectful Maternity Care Charter as a framework to explore...
Background/Objectives: Natural disasters and climate-related emergencies increasingly disrupt maternal healthcare systems, placing growing demands on the midwifery workforce. While midwives play a critical role in maintaining continuity of care, evid...
18 February 2021
Background: This study investigates if a non-randomized controlled perinatal health intervention which offers (a) long-term midwife-led breastfeeding support and (b) psychosocial support of women, is associated with the initiation, exclusivity and du...
Background: Group Care (GC) is an antenatal/postnatal care model comprised of a stable group of pregnant people or parent–child dyads receiving care in two-hour group sessions that combine clinical care with interactive discussion and learning....
Small for gestational age (SGA) births are a significant clinical and public health issue. The objective of this review was to summarize maternal biological and socio-demographic factors and preventive strategies used to reduce the risk of SGA births...
Background: Midwifery leadership is central to delivering safe, high-quality maternity care. Yet despite sustained investment in leadership development and governance frameworks, UK national reviews consistently identify leadership as a weakness. Und...
This article explores the non-technical skills critical for the practice of midwives through a comparison of two maternity services in Morocco. Soft skills, or non-technical skills, present a set of metacognitive abilities, which complement hard or t...
Background: Nutrition counselling during the perinatal period is an important component of midwifery care and health promotion. Existing competency frameworks recognize nutrition-related education and counselling as part of midwifery practice, while...
Background: Nutrition during the perinatal period, including pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and lactation, is a critical determinant of maternal and neonatal health. While the importance of balanced nutrition is well established, the integration...
Background: Parenting a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves several processes and emotions during this transition. In addition to the family’s natural transition when a child is born, the family of a child with ASD has to deal with...
13 November 2020
Background: In Europe, the majority of healthy women give birth at conventional obstetric units with the assistance of registered midwives. This study examines the relationships between the intrapartum transfer of care (TOC) from midwife to obstetric...
Background: Historically, once the baby was born, the mother and baby were separated shortly after birth into a postnatal ward and a baby nursery. Overtime, with advances in neonatology led to an increasing number of neonates being separated from the...
17 January 2022
Consumers access health professionals with varying levels of diabetes-specific knowledge and training, often resulting in conflicting advice. Conflicting health messages lead to consumer disengagement. The study aimed to identify capabilities require...
Background/Objectives: In Japan, hospital births predominate, with home births comprising only 0.1% of deliveries. This study assessed how documented practices for planned home births attended by independent midwives align with national guidelines an...
Indigenous Kichwa women in the Ecuadorian Amazon experience disproportionately high levels of obstetric violence, yet their experiences remain largely absent from national demographic data. This study aims to measure the prevalence and forms of obste...
Background: Pelvic floor muscle dysfunction (PFD) is common during pregnancy. To counteract pregnancy-associated PFD, women require sufficient knowledge and structured guidance on correct pelvic floor muscle (PFM) contraction to improve PFM perceptio...
Objectives: Romania has one of the highest caesarean rates in the European Union, yet little is known about what shapes women’s preferred mode of birth there. This study examined how socio-demographic, obstetric and antenatal care characteristi...