Evidence Based Practice

The Reality of Midwifery

Shannon Stiles

Rasmussen College

Author Note

This paper is being submitted on May 23, 2016 for Karen Vaughn-Kerns’ NUR2058 Section 06 Dimensions of Nursing Practice class.

The Reality of Midwifery

As a (somewhat) new nurse with aspirations of being a midwife, my goal is to learn everything that I can about this practice of caring for women not only during labor and delivery, but during their whole child-bearing age. I study this subject, read articles, and yes, I even watch a show called “Call The Midwife”. I had naturally assumed that because the practice of midwifery was started in the United Kingdom that I would get some of my best information from an article pertaining to modern midwifery in this area. I was surprised and somewhat taken aback by the fact that midwifes in this country were generally as overworked and underappreciated as they are in less, shall I say, “able “countries.

The article that I chose, “Coded Rhetoric: The reality of midwifery practice” not only surprised me, but gave me the realistic viewpoint of how midwives in that country are treated in general. I admit I see the delivery of a child as this amazing and beautiful occurrence and there really is not anything that will deter me from wanting to do this. However, also after reading this article, the realization that something needs to be done to ensure the safety and well-being of new mothers is extremely apparent in a place where the staff is few and the care of the patients is limited.

A survey was done in 2015 to give midwives the opportunity to tell their side of workplace practices. Of the almost three hundred volunteers to submit their answers to the survey, only four admitted to actually being staffed according to need, with the majority saying that they were never staffed enough for the demand of their job. This led to feelings of inadequacies regarding patient care and the ability of the midwife to properly do her job. Most felt...