MIDWIFERY

Explore and critically analyze the inter-professional working and inter-professional communication in midwifery practice

Explore and critically analyze the inter-professional working and inter-professional communication in midwifery practice

Introduction

The word midwife means “with woman.” In many countries throughout the world, women routinely have midwives care for their entire pregnancies. According to the World Health Organization, most babies in the world are delivered into the hands of midwives. Midwives, who focus on the health of mother and baby, have been caring for pregnant mothers and delivering their babies much longer than organized Western medicine has been involved in the business of “giving birth.” Midwifery care is founded on the principles of women-centeredness, acknowledging and supporting natural maternal processes, intervening only when necessary, and advocating for women and their families. Midwifery philosophy includes a valuing of the mind/body connection and “women's ways of knowing,” including birthing women's ability to attune to the rhythm of childbirth and knowing what they need better than anyone else. Midwives view birth as a normal physiological process, not a medical event. Many cultures worldwide value midwifery as essential in maternal care. In North America, mid-wives provide services to healthy women, while obstetricians provide care for high-risk pregnancies and intervene during birth complications.

Discussion

Midwives wishing to become mentors must have current registration with the NMC, and professional qualifications equal to or at a higher level than the students they are supporting in the practice setting. All new mentors/practice teachers will be required to successfully complete an NMC-approved mentor preparation programme. Competencies and outcomes for mentors are discussed below and include:

Facilitation of learning.

Contextualising practice.

Establishing effective working relationships.

Evidence-based practice.

Assessment and accountability.

Creating an environment for learning.

Evaluation of learning.

Leadership. (NMC, 2006)

Inter-professional Collaboration:

"Collaboration" means working every day along with other professionals (doctors of various specialties, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists, social workers, technicians, midwifery, etc.) to obtain a benefit shared and reach a common goal. Health in this concept is almost the most inseparable from that of improvement and cannot be interpreted only in terms of altruism, but rather as a way to achieve common goals in system interdependencies. "Collaboration" means then solving problems through its decisions and shared responsibilities and coordination of individual actions to achieve objectives.

The true nature of health care involves the establishment of collaborative relationships between professionals, patients and their families, households, since no single discipline or specialization respond alone to the health needs of an individual. In fact, the variety of factors that influence the health of people, the growing complexity of health care interventions and greater prevalence of chronic conditions, articulated and multiple patients older on average require the intervention of professionals capable of working together in a comprehensive and dynamic. The combination of knowledge and technical skills and relational characteristics of each health discipline in our case the Midwifery is now the most effective mechanism for achieving the objectives of the profession.

Given the nature of health care one might think collaboration is central to all professions it is involved in. Instead what people experience is a reality constituted by frequent failures due to ...