We would like to thank Kirsty McCance and Sharon Cameron for their article that appeared in the July 2014 Journal issue. We would like to share our experience in Lanarkshire with Journal readers. We concur with the authors’ three key message points. However, the Sexual and Reproductive Health team in Lanarkshire decided to grasp the opportunity to provide immediate contraception for extremely v...

Background Weight management in pregnancy guidelines exist, although dissemination alone is an ineffective means of implementation. Midwives identify the need for support to overcome complex barriers to practice. An evaluation of an intervention to support midwives' guideline implementation would require a large-scale cluster randomised controlled trial. A pilot study is necessary to explore th...

BACKGROUND Prenatal alcohol exposure is an important modifiable cause of adverse fetal outcomes during and following pregnancy. Midwives are key providers of antenatal care, and it is important to understand the factors which influence their ability to provide appropriate advice and support to women about alcohol use in pregnancy. The main aim of this study was to develop a psychometrically val...

BACKGROUND A major change in the organisation of maternity care in the Netherlands is under consideration, going from an echelon system where midwives provide primary care in the community and refer to obstetricians for secondary and tertiary care, to a more integrated maternity care system involving midwives and obstetricians at all care levels. Student midwives are the future maternity care p...

BACKGROUND The 14 countries that are scaling up voluntary male medical circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention are also considering early infant male circumcision (EIMC) to ensure longer-term reductions in HIV incidence. The cost of implementing EIMC is an important factor in scale-up decisions. We conducted a comparative cost analysis of EIMC performed by nurse-midwives and doctors using the Ac...

BACKGROUND The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and complementary and alternative therapies (CAT) during pregnancy is increasing. Scientific evidence for CAM and CAT in the field of obstetrics mainly covers pain relief in labor. Midwives are responsible for labor and delivery care: hence, their knowledge of CAM and CAT is important. The aims of this study are to describe the ...

OBJECTIVES Weight-related stereotypes may have a detrimental impact on interactions between midwives and pregnant women with a body mass index (BMI) outside the recommended range of 18-30kg/m2. This paper explores the reciprocal construal of midwives and pregnant women with a raised BMI and considers the clinical implications of these constructs. PARTICIPANTS Ten pregnant women with a BMI≥30k...

We read with interest McCance and Cameron’s article reporting the experiences and views of qualified midwives on giving postpartum contraceptive advice in the July 2014 issue of the Journal. We would like to draw readers’ attention to a complementary study that we carried out with final-year student midwives on a 3-year midwifery programme in a UK university. 3 This study reflects McCance and C...

pillow. Her countenance indicated exhaustion, and she did not wish to be disturbed ; preferring, as she said, death to any further interference. Her friends stated that labour pains set in four days before, and that the membranes broke and the waters were discharged thirty hours previous to my visit. The pains having been slight, and the labour having made no advance, midwives of repute were se...