SUPERVISOR OF MIDWIVES

Statutory Role of a Supervisor of Midwives

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion2

Statutory Role of a Supervisor of midwives (SOM)3

Protecting Mothers and Babies4

Education and Credentialing of Midwives6

Midwives as Care Work7

Midwives and Mothering as Care work9

The Role of A SOM - Good Practice & Professional Development10

Practice of Good Midwifery16

Role and Responsibility of the SOM - Alleged Impairment to Practice17

Roles and Responsibilities of Practice Committee Panels22

Panels of the Investigating Committee22

Panels of the Conduct and Competence Committee23

Panels of the Health Committee24

Why Midwives Leave (WML) (RCM 2002)25

Fenwick N (1998)26

Day-care Trust (2002)28

Conclusion30

References31

Statutory Role of a Supervisor of Midwives

Introduction

Over ninety years of the movement of professional ad parents in the United Kingdom sought for changing the services of maternity to better meet the requirements of women. Such initiatives have sought to provide the role of midwives for all pregnant women and for normal deliveries. It has been observed that midwives monitoring is done in a better way than those where they act as auxiliary doctors, women are more satisfied and there was a decline in the obstetrical interventions.

Professional organizations involved with U.K. maternity recognize a need to grow U.K. midwifery. Furthermore, they also recognize that there are special circumstances related to the midwifery context that could stifle the growth of the profession (Daycare Trust, 2002: pp. 74-85). Specifically, midwives may have to deal with inadequate remuneration, a limited scope of practice in rural or remote areas, inequity between rural and urban midwives, ambiguous legal status across provinces, and issues of professional recognition or even sometimes outright opposition to their presence.

These issues may exacerbate stress and allegation in midwives. Therefore, the goal of this research is to identify and quantify aspects and statutory roles of Supervisors of Midwives (SOM) for encouraging and supporting midwives. In addition, the paper critically evaluates and synthesizes the statutory role of a supervisor of midwives (SOM) in protecting the public, the role of a SOM in relation to good practice and professional development of the midwife, good midwifery practice through standard setting, audit and research-based knowledge, and the role and responsibility of the SOM in investigating a midwife's alleged impairment to practice.

Discussion

Although United Kingdom boasts a long and storied midwifery tradition, U.K. midwives have only recently begun to operate with similar levels of legitimacy and recognition as midwives the world over. In fact, until the mid 1990s, UK was the only industrialized nation that did not have regulated midwifery (Department of Health 1993). However, the emergence of U.K. midwifery is especially timely since both provincial and national organizations involved in the delivery of maternity care have identified possible shortages of maternity care specialists.

Midwives consider the work as a usual physiological method, which is characterised by a start of thirty seven and forty two weeks in a woman that lived a pregnancy life without any complications. The supervisors of women also perceive that the work for a woman is not usual and it is also extraordinary for the results of good or bad experiences that are necessary for mental balance as ...