Physiological breech birth. Evaluation of a training programme for birth professionals.

This article evaluates the results of physiological breech birth (PBB) study days provided by breech Birth Network (BBN). An expanded version of this article, with further details including the statistics and additional information about the content of the training, is available on our website. This paper reports an evaluation of the BBN PBB training programme, which has been developed out of consensus research, with highly experienced health professionals.

Emergency time: caring in Congo.

Midwifery practice in rural central Africa is full of joys (an abundance of twins, births by candlelight and resilience and stoicism that would leave even the very experienced birth practitioner speechless), but also a lot of challenges (every obstetric emergency in your wildest nightmares and worse) that are compounded by a lack of access to a skilled birth attendant. Women here have a strong culture of traditional practices and remedies, and hospital is often not the first port of call. Caring for women who cannot, themselves, consent to emergency life-saving caesarean sections, is a cultural aspect that we accept and respect as medical professionals working in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).