BACKGROUND Revising the medical education programs to meet the needs of society has become both a necessity and an important priority due to the considerable increase of population, changing patterns of diseases, and new health priorities. While this necessity has been highlighted in Iran's Fifth Development Plan as well as its National 2025 Vision Plan, the determinants of social accountabilit...

Most low- and middle-income countries failed to meet the Millennium Development Goal targets for maternal, newborn and child health, and even more ambitious targets have been set under the Sustainable Development Goals and the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality initiative. This means that many countries will need to accelerate progress on sexual, reproductive, maternal and newborn health ove...

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recently published a policy statement calling for the requirement of the Doctor of Nursing Practice for entry into practice as an Advanced Practice Nurse by the year 2015. Certified nurse-midwives, defined as those educated in both nursing and midwifery, are commonly included in the definition of Advanced Practice Nurses, along with nurse practiti...

BACKGROUND Midwifery-led care during labour and birth in the UK is increasingly important given national commitments to choice of place of birth, reduction of unnecessary intervention and improving women's experience of care, and evidence on safety and benefits for 'low risk' women. Further evidence is needed on safety and potential benefits of midwifery-led care for some groups of 'higher risk...

1 Department of Midwifery in Medical University, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, IR Iran 2 Department of Foreign Languages, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, IR Iran * Corresponding author: Tahereh Fathi Najafi, Department of Midwifery in Medical University, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, IR Iran. Tel: +98-5118687122, Fax: +98-5118687122, E-m...

INTRODUCTION This paper reviews the literature exploring the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women accessing antenatal care in Australia, alongside literature comparing standard models of antenatal care against midwifery continuity models of antenatal care. Attention is given to evidence based benefits of midwifery continuity care models, and how these benefits can better a...

BACKGROUND Changing Childbirth (1993), a report on the future of maternity services in the United Kingdom, endorsed the development of a primarily community based midwifery led service for normal pregnancy, with priority given to the provision of "woman centred care". This has led to the development of local schemes emphasising continuity of midwifery care and increased choice and control for w...

BACKGROUND midwifery continuity of care has been shown to be beneficial to women through reducing interventions and other maternal and neonatal morbidity. In Australia, numerous government reports recognise the importance of midwifery models of care that provide continuity. Given the benefits, midwives, including new graduate midwives, should have the opportunity to work in these models of care...