The Maternity & Midwifery Hour

Maternity and Midwifery Hour Series 7 - Episode 9: Highlights from the Northern Maternity and Midwifery Festival 2022 Presentations include: Cancer and pregnancy awareness: seeing the symptoms Supporting women and families fleeing at time of crisis Hosted by: Sue Macdonald, Midwifery Expert, Mayes Midwifery Contributions from: Wendy Warrington (Wanda), Safeguarding Families Specialist Practitioner...

The need for support, and the impact of stress on those providing support for breastfeeding mothers led Professor Amy Brown to explore the wellbeing of lactation support workers, prior and during the Covid-19 lockdown. In this presentation, Amy will share the complex picture that emerged, and what the implications are for breastfeeding women, their families and their supporters.   Hosted by:...

In this episode, Sue and Zahra will discuss the one-day programme for maternity and midwifery professionals and policy makers building on the recommendations from the Ockenden Report into incidents at Shrewsbury and Telford titled Personalised Maternity Care: Building on Ockenden. Claire's presentation (a brand new recording straight from the live event in Central London on June 8th) 'Devising and...

The need to address perinatal pelvic health was highlighted by the NHS announcement in 2021 the that NHS Pelvic Health Clinics would be set up to support pregnant women and new mums to prevent and treat incontinence and other pelvic floor issues. These would provide a one stop shop for women, who can self refer, through their pregnancy and afterwards, providing specialist advice, exercises and tre...

Is it a career move to education for you? Midwives moving to higher education - exploring the issues. Midwifery education in Indonesia, developing a collaborative curriculum. Exploring these topics will be Jo Foster and Mandy Wain, both Assistant Professors in Midwifery at the University of Nottingham. Hosted by: Sue Macdonald, Midwifery Expert, Mayes Midwifery Contributions from: Joanne Foster, A...

This week, we look at two important issues that are facing midwives, midwifery and maternity services. My Uterus - a reflection on Roe vs Wade with Laura Godfrey-Isaacs  What does that leaked report from the US Supreme Court attempting to reverse the ruling of Roe versus Wade mean for women in the US and beyond? Laura will consider what this means from a feminist and midwife perspective, incl...

How much of a plan did you have for your career as a midwife when you were in your training? Did you know what direction you wanted to go in? Are you now wondering what would be the best place for YOU in midwifery and maternity services? This hour will provide a spotlight on the things you need to think about right at the beginning, and then includes some ‘what I wish I’d known’... points to set y...

Thursday 5 May midwives across the world are celebrating International Day of the Midwife 2022. This time of celebration will reflect on progress in midwifery over the past 100 years. We hope that midwives, maternity support workers and student midwives across the globe celebrate in unison.   In this episode, hear more about the current midwifery climate with leading professionals and how to...

In the recent Ockenden report about a UK maternity trust, it was pointed out that midwives and staff had been prevented from speaking out. In this hour Kathryn Gutteridge, Consultant Midwife, and psychotherapist will discuss the issues of speaking out in the current health climate. Read Dr. Kathryn Guttridge's recent article for the Maternity and Midwifery Forum. Join us to find out more. Hosted b...

It is really important that midwives listen to and work with women, organisations, and individuals who will enrich their care.  The Raham Project was set up for mothers and their partners who have recently used or are currently using maternity services, creating a safe and non-judgemental space for mums and partners to discuss all things related to pregnancy, childbirth, and maternal mental h...

For many years, parentcraft and preparation for childbirth and early parenting has been delivered face to face – utilising a group approach, with some controversy that it does not always meet all womens/parents needs, and that some women who need it might not access it. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, midwives had to think of different ways to support women preparing them for their pregnancy and chi...

Cleared for take-off – Reflections on Continuity of Care And what does continuity of care mean for midwives, and for the service? Some people are anxious that at this time, recovering from Covid-19, and with the impact of lack of staff, maternity services should revert to a more fractured service. So is this the answer to improving care, experiences, and outcomes for women, their babies, and famil...

Providing empowerment and care to pregnant and childbearing migrants/refugees The last couple of years has led to many people seeking a new, safe home in the UK. Some have been pregnant and childbearing women escaping war and violence, seeking safety. How can we support these women at this time, and ensure that they and their babies are supported and cared for at a critical time in their lives? Ho...

Exploring how midwifery and midwifery education is being developed around the world.   Join us to find out more.   Hosted by: Sue Macdonald, Midwifery Expert, Mayes Midwifery  Contributions from: Dr Maeve O’Connell, Assistant Professor, Midwifery at Fatima College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Dr Georgina Sosa PhD, Assistant Professor, Midwifery at Fatima Colle...

About 600 pregnant women enter prison in England each year, with about 50 pregnant at any one time, and about 100 births occur annually. Davies’ (2020) research shows that even before the Covid-19 outbreak, pregnant women in prison faced significant risks. In 2017-18 roughly one in ten pregnant women gave birth either in their prison cell or en route to hospital, raising questions about their abil...

Personalised care means people have choice and control over the way their care is planned and delivered. It is based on ‘what matters’ to them and their individual strengths and needs. Personalised care represents a new relationship between people, professionals, and the health and care system. It provides a positive shift in power and decision-making that enables people to have a voice, to be hea...

Perinatal mental health (PMH) problems are those which occur during pregnancy or in the first year following the birth of a child. Perinatal mental illness affects up to 20% of new and expectant mums and covers a wide range of conditions.  If left untreated, mental health issues can have significant and long-lasting effects on the woman, the child, and the wider family.   Specialist PMH...

This session addresses the provision and access to postnatal care, long described as the Cinderella of maternity care. Do we place enough focus, time, and energy on this time of transition to early parenthood, of coping with a new baby and a changed role? Is there sufficient continuity and postnatal service? Where is the leadership of PN care and where is it going? In this episode, Professor Mary...

Exploring the care of the newborn, in particular, the extremely preterm infant, and their parents. Hosted by: Sue Macdonald,  Midwifery Expert,  Mayes Midwifery Contributions from: Professor Paul Clarke,  Consultant Neonatologist/Hon. Professor,  University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK Dr Paul Cawley,  Consultant Neonatologist,  Evelina Children’s Hospital, Guy’s and S...

Having discussed extensively how midwives facilitate out of guideline birth choices, Dr Claire Feeley's presentation will focus on midwives' experiences of delivering such care.   Anna will discuss personalised care in relation to women’s experiences of making challenging choices such as out of guideline, declining all or elements of care or requesting non indicated intervention. To do this,...

The short and long term benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and their babies are well known. How can we, as midwives and health care workers, support mothers and their families to choose to breastfeed, get successful feeding established and ensure that changes are sustainable? NHS Lothian’s DEBS Project, in partnership with the Scottish Government, provides early support for breastfeeding. This...

Happy New Year and welcome to Season 6 of the Maternity & Midwifery Hour!  We find ourselves in the epicentre of a new COVID-19 storm. The recent variant has led to increased infection and sickness in the population, staff shortages, longer working hours and reduced breaks. The first episode of the New Year will take a timely look at strategies and techniques you can adopt to boost your o...

We have a stellar line up of LIVE speakers to see out the year - our regular host Sue Macdonald is joined by Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, Sheena Byrom OBE, Dr Jenny Hall, Dianne Garland and Nicolette Porter. We’ll be looking back at some of the 2021 highlights and looking forward to 2022. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Supported by MATFLIX: www.matflix.co.uk Register for the next Ma...

This hour, we will be looking at the power and potential of physiology around pregnancy, birth, and postnatal periods. This includes a look at how we can support normal physiology and enhance the birth experience, the golden hour, and the early life of the baby. This includes discussion around Oxytocin (that love hormone), the labour and birth environment, skin to skin with mothers, partners, and...

This evening we are sharing two new initiatives. The first is the new Birthrights film: Speak up, Speak Out’ film, which highlights the importance of human rights in childbirth, issues around care, birth trauma and the complaints process after birth experiences. The second is Maternal Journal, which can be a strategy to assist mothers, pregnant people and families to develop their personal reflect...