Short description:

This book provides a comprehensive exploration of decision-making for midwives. Each chapter presents examples that show how the theory applies to practice and includes activities to reinforce learning points.

Long description:

Decision-making pervades all aspects of midwifery practice across the world. Midwifery is informed by a number of decision-making theories, but it is sometimes difficult to marry these theories with practice.

This book provides a comprehensive exploration of decision-making for midwives irrespective of where in the world they practice or in which model of care. The first part critically reviews decision-making theories, including the Enhancing Decision-making Assessment in Midwifery (EDAM) tool, and their relevance to midwifery. It explores the links between midwifery governance, including professional regulation and the law, risk and safety and decision-making as well as how critical thinking and reflection are essential elements of decision-making. It then goes on to present a number of diverse case studies, demonstrating how they interrelate to and impact upon optimal midwifery decision-making. Each chapter presents examples that show how the theory translates into practice and includes activities to reinforce learning points.

Bringing together a diverse range of contributors, this volume will be essential reading for midwifery students, practising midwives and midwifery academics.

Table of Contents:

1. Midwifery and Decision-Making Theories  2. Midwifery Regulation: global perspective  3. Legal Issues in Midwifery Care  4. Doing good: Ethics of decision-making in midwifery care  5. Risk within maternity and how this impacts on midwives? decision-making  6. Midwifery Abdication  7. Critical thinking  8. The use of reflection in midwifery practice to inform clinical decision-making.  9. Decision-making in perinatal mental health: what are the challenges?  10. Stress urinary incontinence in pregnancy and midwives decision-making  11. Enhanced decision-making in midwifery - care for pregnant and parenting adolescents  12. Deciding to transfer. Tools to navigate the crossroads of expectations, values, and models of care, when making transfer decisions at a midwifery birth center   13. Decision-making around pain and its management during labour and birth  14. Midwives? decision-making for fetal heart monitoring  15. Third Stage of Labour and Optimal Cord Clamping: Implications for midwives decision-making  15. Choices after traumatic birth  17. Stillbirth and midwives decision making: what are the challenges?  18. Midwifery decision-making: Feeling safe to support women?s choice in the maternity care environment  19. Woman centred-care and shared decision-making in midwifery care  20. Collaborative Decision-Making from a Woman?s Perspective  21. The Doula, Midwife partnership. Friend or Foe ? how to work collaboratively  22. Collaborative decision-making between midwives and doctors  23. Do personality traits impact upon Midwives decision-making and practice?  24. Proactive behaviour in midwifery education and practice: a pre-request for shared decision-making  25. Developing the decision-making skills of Student Midwives in an Undergraduate Midwifery Programme in New Zealand.