Midwives
Two French midwives (sages-femmes)
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| Occupation | |
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| Names | Midwife |
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Occupation type
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Professional |
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Activity sectors
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Midwifery, obstetrics, newborn care, women's health, reproductive health |
| Description | |
| Competencies | Knowledge, professional behaviour and specific skills in family planning, pregnancy, labour, birth, postpartum period, newborn care, women's health, reproductive health, and social, epidemiologic and cultural context of midwifery |
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Education required
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Related jobs
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obstetrician, gynecologist, pediatrician |
A midwife is a professional in midwifery, specializing in pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, women's sexual and reproductive health (including annual gynecological exams, family planning, menopausal care and others), and newborn care. They are also educated and trained to recognise the variations of normal progress of labor and how to deal with deviations from normal to discern and what may intervene in high risk situations, such as breech births, twin births and births where the baby is in a posterior position, using non-invasive techniques. When a pregnant woman requires care beyond the midwife's scope of practice, they refer women to obstetricians or perinatologists who are medical specialists in complications related to pregnancy and birth, including surgical and instrumental deliveries. In many parts of the world, these professions work in tandem to provide care to childbearing women. In others, only the midwife is available to provide care, and in yet other countries many women elect to utilize obstetricians primarily over midwives.
Many developing countries are investing money and training for midwives as these services are needed all over the world. Some primary care services are currently lacking due to the shortage of money being funded for these resources.
A study performed by Melissa Cheyney and colleagues followed approximately 17,000 planned home births with the assistance of midwives. 93.6% of these families had a normal physiological birth and only 5% were Cesarean sections. In 2013, the rate of Cesarean sections in hospitals in the United States was 32.7%, which is double the rate that World Health Organization recommends.
According to the definition of the International Confederation of Midwives, which has also been adopted by the World Health Organization and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics:
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