MIDWIFERY CARE

The Role of Midwife in the Provision of Normal Midwifery Care



The Role of Midwife in the Provision of Normal Midwifery Care

Introduction

Midwifery is the age-old practice of assisting women throughout the processes of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum period (i.e., before, during, and after the birth). Most often practiced by women, midwifery is one of the oldest professions in the world, referenced in ancient texts and even mentioned throughout the Bible. According to Martin (2001) not surprisingly, both midwives and midwifery have undergone several transformations throughout history, surviving periods of intense persecution as well as enjoying periods of deserved respect and esteem. To chronicle the history of midwifery is to observe not only the historical transformations in our understandings of pregnancy and childbirth but also the professional battles over who should have jurisdiction over pregnant women's bodies and the process of childbirth itself (Martin, 2001). One of the primary distinctions between health care practitioners who practice midwifery and those engaged in modern obstetrics surrounds the orientation toward birth as either a natural or medical event.

Attendance at birth has been suggested to be essential in facilitating mother-child survival as the physiology of birth changed during human evolutionary history. Midwife, an AngloSaxon term meaning “with woman,” aptly describes the role that women have long assumed as birth attendants. The anthropology of midwifery is the study of nonphysician primary birth attendants within and across cultures. Birth attendants are not always specialists, and not all cultures have specifically delineated roles for birth attendants (Martin, 2001). Thus, our definition of the anthropology of midwifery is expansive enough to include a wide range of biomedical and nonbiomedical, as well as formal and informal, birth attendants. Important elements of study in this field include the definition, education, practices, identities, and knowledge systems of midwives. Much anthropological research is directed toward the documentation and critique of ongoing international battles over the definition and social roles of midwives, especially as viable alternatives to the overmedicalization of birth.

Definition of the Term Midwife

A midwife is a person, generally a woman, who assisted a pregnant woman during and after the process of childbirth. The midwife has been an important part of society since prehistoric times, albeit with more or less efficacy according to place and time. In some societies in East Asia, for example, midwifery became associated with various shamanistic practices and the midwife therefore had additional duties related to celebration of the changing of the seasons and the placation of spirits.

In general terms, as science and knowledge has progressed through time, midwives have become increasingly efficient in their ability to tend to women and children. However, death rates resulting from childbirth among poor and poorly educated societies can remain high and the medicine of developed countries can dramatically reduce these rates (Rooks, 1999). In some cases, even in the twenty-first century, childbirth practices can have deleterious effects on the child or its mother and further expansion of education is required in such cases.

Discussion

There is a sharp distinction made in international literature and ...