MIDWIFERY

Midwifery

Midwifery

Introduction

The formal definition of a midwife was first adopted by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) in 1972 and 1973 respectively. It was later adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO). The definition was amended by the ICM in 1990 and this amendment was then ratified by the FIGO and the WHO in 1991 and 1992 respectively. It now reads as follows:

'A midwife is a person who, having been regularly admitted to a midwifery educational programme, duly recognised in the country in which it is located, has successfully completed the prescribed course of studies in midwifery and has acquired the requisite qualifications to be registered and/or legally licensed to practise midwifery.

The term “team care” is not a new concept and was first described in 1979 (Thomson, 1980). Through the 1980s, consumer and midwifery dissatisfaction with the traditional fragmented system of care which was contrary to the needs and wants of women (44) and midwives alike, grew. Many publications (ARM, 1986; Burfoot, 1985; Church, 1985; Cooper, 1984; Curran, 1986; Edwards, 1989; Flint, 1985; Flint and Poulengeris, 1989; Frohlich and Edwards, 1989; Hooton, 1984; Mason, 1989; Neil, 1985; The Maternity Services Advisory Committee, 1984-85) describe team midwifery and its effectiveness in defragmenting care. Team midwifery is considered an effective system of maternity care to create and ensure that the care given is centred on the needs and wants of women, that is being women-orientated rather than job-orientated. Consequently, the concept of team midwifery became high on the agenda of many maternity units and midwives in an effort to reorganise midwifery services.

An evaluation of service quality

At one and the same time, there was an opportunity to develop an understanding of the nature and measurement issues relating to maternity care and to evaluate the impact of team midwifery on maternity care quality. Given the similarity of this view with the consensus from the service quality/satisfaction literature, the unit provided the potential for a useful case study on service quality of maternity care.

The research provides an insight into the management challenges of maternity care by seeking the views and opinions of the major stakeholders, the women, the midwives, midwifery managers, consultant obstetricians and general practitioners.

The aim of this research is to assess the standards of care received by the women of Bradford through team and non-team midwifery, against the specific standards of care identified in Changing Childbirth (DOH, 1993).The objectives of the research are to:

the specific requirements and wants of the women of Bradford for maternity care, addressing the appropriateness of some of the recommendations (DOH, 1993);

the context of women's wants, to measure the impact of team and non-team midwifery on Bradford Maternity Services;

the response to team midwifery by, team and non-team midwives, midwifery managers, consultants and general practitioners;

the economic implications of these two service delivery methods.

Discussion

In May 2004, the first global strategy on reproductive health, which rests on five core aspects of reproductive health, including the provision of high-quality services for maternal health care, ...