Midwife is an important profession for every woman, because it is she who deals with women’s health at every stage of a woman’s life. It provides sex education, education about women’s health, disease prevention, and can also advise on family planning or motherhood.
What else does a midwife do? The midwife has a very wide range of responsibilities, which goes far beyond childbirth and maternity care for mother and child.
Midwife – terms of reference
The midwife takes care of:
- prevention of various diseases of women of any age;
- family planning methods;
- caring for a pregnant woman;
- breast-feeding;
- care for the woman giving birth and during the period of gestation;
- care and education for the care of the newborn;
- nutrition of pregnant women and newborn;
- informing parents about the child’s protective vaccinations;
- difficult births-she can make difficult and sudden decisions when the birth is not going well and the doctor is absent.
Midwife – choice
Choosing a midwife is an important decision. This can be done by submitting a so-called midwife selection declaration. The decision about the midwife can be changed up to twice a year, but it involves a fee of 80 rubles to the account of the federal tax service. However, it is worth knowing that it does not have to be a midwife who takes in our clinic, so you can choose the person to whom we have the greatest confidence.
As for the choice of midwife present at the birth, it can be chosen only from among those working in the maternity ward. The smaller the hospital, the less choice. However, in larger establishments, where more staff are employed, this is possible. If a woman decides to give birth in a private institution, she can have her own, trusted midwife, but this comes with additional fees.
During childbirth, a woman can also use the help of the so-called independent midwife, which provides private, paid services. Her help consists in assisting in childbirth, learning the proper way to breathe and cope with pain during childbirth.
Midwife – specializations
The midwife is present at every stage of a woman’s life. She is engaged in sex education, prevention of female diseases, counseling in family planning, motherhood and fatherhood. Supports the woman during childbirth and in the care of the newborn.
A midwife can have numerous specializations:
- midwife involved in health promotion and health education;
- midwife working in neonatal unit;
- specialisation in family or maternity nursing;
- specialization of organization and management;
- specialization of epidemiological nursing;
- specialization in gynecological nursing.
Therefore, it should be remembered that the midwife should not be treated as a subordinate of the doctor. We often forget that the midwife should work closely with the doctor on the same level. During childbirth, when the doctor is absent, the midwife can even take over the duties of the doctor and make many difficult decisions, since she has full competence for this.
So there is a lot of truth in the statement that the Midwife is the most important in the delivery room. The doctor has many responsibilities related to childbirth, but it is the midwife who is with the woman throughout the birth. Its role should therefore not be diminished.