Debunking Midwifery Myths

New article published here: Oh baby: seven things you probably didn’t know about midwives

…please share it widely!

As I am now coming to the end of my PhD (With lot’s of new and exciting things on the horizon I hope), I have been delving into the depths of the largest global online survey of midwives to date – the voices of over 2470 midwives in 93 countries!

Not only is this really an awesome and very important piece of work… it also holds some quite harrowing findings for our beloved midwifery profession. Yet this report also indicates that – if the voices of midwives are listened to, and if midwives are enabled to overcome gender inequalities and assume positions of leadership – quality of care can be improved for women and newborns globally. Wow….OK…we had better get to work then!

ALSO…

“Professionally, 89% of respondents reported that a clear understanding of what midwifery involves is critical for change to take place. Concerns were also expressed over the perceived devaluing of midwifery combined with the increasing medicalisation of birth.”

 

Professionally, the participants expressed concern about a lack of understanding of what “midwifery” is, the devaluing of the midwifery profession combined with the increasing medicalisation of birth, and the underlying weakness in midwifery education and regulation.

Now, I don’t claim to be able to fix the world in a day..but there was one thing that I thought I may be able to do from behind my PC. I could get an article published in @ConversationUK about the midwifery profession…perhaps I could even debunk some myths and set the record straight!…

I had my article published…please share it widely via the link below:

Oh baby: seven things you probably didn’t know about midwives

Now I was limited in this article. Limited in words and in how many points I was able to make in one article…editors need to keep their publications engaging!..and so yes…I did not manage to publish everything in this article as I would have liked to…and yes there are many many more myths about midwives that need to be debunked. But I am hoping that this will the a start of a new conversation.

Midwifery is defined as “skilled, knowledgeable and compassionate care for childbearing women, newborn infants and families across the continuum from pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, birth, postpartum and the early weeks of life” and it should be celebrated at every opportunity.

Let’s keep the conversation going around the importance of the midwifery profession. Midwives are crucial to the delivery of high quality maternal and newborn care and subsequent reductions in maternal and newborn mortality around the world. Yet they must be celebrated, respected and supported.

The core characteristics of midwifery include “optimising normal biological, psychological, social and cultural processes of reproduction and early life, timely prevention and management of complications, consultation with and referral to other services, respecting women’s individual circumstances and views, and working in partnership with women to strengthen women’s own capabilities to care for themselves and their families” – Can we start to spread the word on this now please?

If you would like to follow the progress of my work going forward..

Follow me via @SallyPezaro; The Academic Midwife; This blog

Until next time…Look after yourselves and each other 

Making Birth better: How research shapes practice #bbresearch17

Indulging in my passion for research, I am today reflecting on my time at #bbresearch17 …an intimate conference made into a delightful day thanks to @researchMWs & @HinchMidwives…More specifically …  @taraApauley  &  @GallyHJ …

I personally enjoyed this as a more intimate conference, where deeper conversations could get the brain working on what was really needed in maternity services and health research…Another reflection of the day can be seen on Steller here…

As you can see, we had a great line up for the day, and a fish and chip lunch no less!

Highlights for me include:

Stop sexualising breastfeeding!!!! The great presentation by @Dr_AmyBrown #BBResearch17 #breastfeeding #stigma #pressure #midwife…

Learning about #research associated with @NPEU_UKMidSS at #BBresearch17 with @RachelRowe3 #whywedoresearch #MatExp #obesity @HinchMidwives

Learning so much about #research at #BBresearch17 with Prof. Soo Downe #whywedoresearch #NIHR #hypnosis #MatExp #childbirth #analgesia

Getting a wave from miles away from @JennytheM across the miles #bbresearch17 sending #SkinToSkin & midwifery love to us all …..

Powerful words from @helen_shallow at #BBresearch17…. how do we cope as midwives, & ensure excellence in maternity care?

And of course.. ##bbresearch17 learning all about making sure that blood goes to baby with @bloodtobaby with @optimalclamping…

Learning about the barriers to identifying poor #perinatalmentalhealth shared by prof @JulieJomeen at #BBresearch17 #mentalhealth #MatExp with @HinchMidwives

Yet there were a couple of overarching themes that came from the day…including….

 

Thank you to everyone who came to see these wonderful presentations (including those who came to see my own presentation of course – you gave me lots to think about!)!…and thank you all for such an intimate and heartwarming day discussing my favorite topic…Research in Midwifery 😍…

 

And a last word from the Head of Midwifery at Hinchingbrooke  Hospital….(Heather Gallagher)…..

If you would like to follow the progress of my work going forward..

Follow me via @SallyPezaro; The Academic Midwife; This blog

Until next time…Look after yourselves and each other 

 

A reflection on #internationaldayofthemidwife (#IDM2017)

Happy #internationaldayofthemidwife or (#IDM2017) as it is indeed the 5th of May 2017. I wanted to do a quick reflection (and a little dance of happiness) about the fact that the focus of this year’s International Day of the Midwife is…

 “Midwives, Mothers and Families: Partners for Life!”

With messages coming from the International Confederation such as…”It is very important that midwives and mothers both acknowledge the reciprocity of their relationship” – Scarlett #IDM2017 @ToyinSaraki

Yes…..we work in PARTNERSHIP with women and their families!…mothers, families and midwives are all equal partners….this means that we can finally break the mold and state openly that we, as midwives can also be prioritised!…Fabulous!

I have often wondered whether terms such as ‘Patient comes first’ is really healthy…as it is terms like this which often infer that midwives come second at best. What do you think?

I have also been picking up on some other great messages, pictures and videos this #IDM2017..such as…..

 

Happy International Day of the Midwife from Annie and Ossie x @NHSMillion @alibrodrick @optimalclamping @JacqueGRCM @UWE_Midwifery @butNHS pic.twitter.com/62yGRPKGuz

— Rachel Ellie Gardner (@RachelEllieG) May 5, 2017

 

I have also been dipping in and out of the Virtual International Day of the Midwife conference sessions a FREE conference that happens online every year….I have presented my work at @VIDofM (#vidm17) before, and it is such a great opportunity to get people together in one place from all over the world!

This year for #Internationaldayofthemidwife I have recorded a podcast ‘Made by midwives for midwives’. Hosted by London based midwives Anthonissa Moger and Kate Whatmough….  (The Midwifery Podcast: Os closed, go home.)..I will be sharing this in an upcoming blog post…but for now..I am off to enjoy the rest of #IDM2017…there is such positivity in the midwifery world today…Let’s keep the momentum going ❣🎓❣

 

If you would like to follow the progress of my work going forward..

Follow me via @SallyPezaro; The Academic Midwife; This blog

Until next time…Look after yourselves and each other 

How to Structure a Research Paper

OK, there are many ways to structure a research paper, and I would urge everyone to follow the guidelines of which ever journal, school or university they are writing for. However, have you ever wondered how to structure a research paper? (A typical one anyway)!…Well I have put together one structure which you may find useful in your writing and planning (I certainly have).

Introduction:

• State what this paper going to do, say or explore
• State why your topic or ‘problem’ is important – why should we care about it?
• State what we already know about this issue, and what is yet to learn
• What are you aiming to do with this work? If you are answering a problem, what are your research question(s)?

Background:

• If the word count allows, give the reader a broader picture of your topic and what you are trying to highlight with the problem you have identified
• What is the prevalence of your problem? – Give us some stats
• What could be changed for the better? – Tell us what has already been tried

Methods:

• Tell us exactly what you have done in order to get the results and findings of this study
• Tell us where your study took place and in what context
• State the type of study you chose to use, and why that particular design was appropriate in your case
• Who did you include in your study? – Tell us about them
• State how you recruited this sample of participants for your study in detail – How many? where? why?
• Describe in detail the process you went through to gather your data
• If you use an intervention, describe it in detail
• Tell us whether or not there were any variables in this study, is there anything we should know about?
• How did you collect or ‘extract’ data for this study? – Tell us, and be sure to mention any instruments or tools that were used in this data collection, and why they were chosen
• State in detail how you analysed the data you collected

Results:

• How did it all go? Tell us who responded, what your drop out rates where and how many participants took part overall
• Describe those who did take part – were they men? women? old? young?… where were they from and what conditions did they have?
• Go back to your research question – Tell us what key findings relate back to answering these questions and how
• What else did you find out – Tell us the interesting bits, the correlations, the secondary findings which came out of your work

Discussion:

• Give the reader a quick recap summary of your overall results/findings
• Discuss what you found in relation to previous research – How do your findings differ from or confirm previous conclusions?
• Discuss the implications of what you have found – what might change? and who might benefit from knowing?
• Make sure you do not overstate your findings or exaggerate (I am guilty of this too)! – List the limitations and strengths of your study
• Offer some thoughts on what research may come next

Conclusions:

If you have covered all of the points above, all you should need to do here is describe what your paper has done, and what is has added to the literature. Leave the reader with some closing thoughts and remarks, before declaring any conflicts of interest and/or funding sources.

Top academic writing tips:

• Consider whether your work may be improved by applying a theory to underpin it
• Think about which other frameworks and/or evidence may underpin your work
• Consider using a reporting framework or guideline to strengthen the standard of reporting in your work (also….ensure that the framework is suited to the type of research you are doing) – See list here. 
• How else might you ensure rigor in your research? – Use peer review, risk of bias and quality appraisal tools to check your work
• Be proud of what you have achieved… always. You are always ahead of those who have yet to begin 💜🎓💜

If you are looking to publish a paper and would like me to join your team, I am always happy to be a co-author on your article in exchange for guidance and insight..Not sure how to do this?…see my post…’Why Midwifery and Nursing Students Should Publish their Work and How’ for further info.

Further reading:

Huth EJ. How to Write and Publish Papers in the Medical Sciences, 2nd edition. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins,1990.

Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 1999.

Devers KJ , Frankel RM. Getting qualitative research published. Educ Health 2001; 14: 109–117.

Docherty M, Smith R. The case for structuring the discussion of scientific papers. Br Med J 1999; 318: 1224–1225.

Perneger, T V, Hudelson P M; Writing a research article: advice to beginners. Int J Qual Health Care 2004; 16 (3): 191-192. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzh053

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If you would like to follow the progress of my work going forward..

Follow me via @SallyPezaro; The Academic Midwife; This blog

Until next time…Look after yourselves and each other