CASE LOADING

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Introduction

Midwifery is a profession that concentrates on the provision of health care by providing care to women who bear child in pregnancy, labour and delivery. They also provide services during the period of postpartum and in the middle of pregnancies. Midwives also provide assistance to the mothers in breast-feeding and post-pregnancy issues. In addition, they also provide education to the women regarding birth control and prescriptions for maintaining health. Hence, they can be regarded as professionals in the deliveries, pregnancy cares and health care of women. There are different categories of midwife care, which includes medical-led care, shared-care and caseload holding. Caseload holding refers to the service where one midwife is dedicated to the care of a particular pregnant woman. There are several advantages of caseload model of midwifery which have been discussed at great length in the assignment.

Caseload Model

Caseload midwifery care is where one particular midwife is dedicated to a particular patient (p.71). This increases the quality of care and treatment that is provided to pregnant women. The specificities of the concerned patient are effectively met with, as one midwife has one patient to attend to. This means that more time can be devoted to the patient. The midwives are likely to understand the problems of the patients comprehensively. Caseload midwifery can be referred to as a specialized program of midwifery care (p.75).

The caseload model would be effective in reducing the maternity problems that arise earlier in the periods of pregnancies, and hence lead to lower childbirth deaths and infant mortality. One of the main advantages of caseload midwife care model is that due to concentrated care dedicated, it would be useful in the identification of any complication in advance. Hence, in this situation the midwife can refer the case to specialist obstetrician. This is a more effective method of treatment then the medical-led models and shared-care models. In the medical-led models, the patient is attended by the specialist obstetrician in the hospitals and medical care centres (p.88). In this model, the medical professional is less attentive to the condition and perception of the patients, and focuses more on the solution that he or she believes would be effective. The lack of attention to the patients can lead to errors on most occasions and lead to miscarriages and even childbirth deaths. In the shared-care model, there is more then one midwife that attends to the patient. In this model, there are chances of disagreements that may arise regarding the treatment of patients (p.93). The problems of the patients are likely to be interpreted differently by the respective midwives, and each one would seek to pursue one's own course of action regarding the treatment of the patient. This would affect the patient negatively, and may lead to operated deliveries and affect the health of the patient and child. Hence, the caseload model of midwifery is the most effective care that can be given to ensure smooth and normal pregnancies, deliveries and post-pregnancy issues such as breast ...