'Every Woman Wants to Know What Came out of Her Body': Grief Experiences of Women After Stillbirth in Nigeria.

Stillbirth commonly affects women in Nigeria, but their experiences of grief following stillbirth is under explored. This study aimed to describe Nigerian women's experiences of grief after stillbirth. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 women in Nigeria who experienced stillbirth.

Exploring the Social Networks of Women Bereaved by Stillbirth: A Descriptive Qualitative Study.

The loss of a baby to stillbirth is a traumatic experience and can lead to secondary losses, such as the loss of social relationships. In Nigeria, stillbirths are a common public health problem. However, limited attention has been given to the social ramifications of stillbirths.

Remote rural women's choice of birthplace and transfer experiences in rural Otago and Southland New Zealand.

Background: Birth in primary midwife-led maternity units has been demonstrated to be a safe choice for well women anticipating a normal birth. The incidence of serious perinatal outcomes for these women is comparable to similarly low risk women, who choose to birth in hospital. New Zealand women have a choice of Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) and birthplace; home, primary birthing unit, or a base hospital, though not all women may have all these choices available locally.

The challenge of defining and treating anemia and iron deficiency in pregnancy: A study of New Zealand midwives' management of iron status in pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Background: Early recognition and management of low maternal iron status is associated with improved maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes. However, existing international guidelines for the testing and management of maternal iron-deficiency anemia are variable, with no national guideline for New Zealand midwives. Clinical management is complicated by normal physiological hemodilution, and complicated further by the effects of inflammation on iron metabolism, especially in populations with a high prevalence of obesity or infection.

The tensions of uncertainty: Midwives managing risk in and of their practice.

The tensions of uncertainty: midwives managing risk in and of their practice. There has been a fundamental shift in past decades in the way midwifery is enacted. The midwifery attributes of skilful practice and conscious alertness seem to have been replaced by the concept of risk with its connotations of control, surveillance and blame.

Putting intelligent structured intermittent auscultation (ISIA) into practice.

Background: Fetal monitoring guidelines recommend intermittent auscultation for the monitoring of fetal wellbeing during labour for low-risk women. However, these guidelines are not being translated into practice and low-risk women birthing in institutional maternity units are increasingly exposed to continuous cardiotocographic monitoring, both on admission to hospital and during labour. When continuous fetal monitoring becomes routinised, midwives and obstetricians lose practical skills around intermittent auscultation.

Midwives׳ decision making about transfers for 'slow' labour in rural New Zealand.

Unlabelled: Midwives who provided Lead Maternity Care (LMC) to women in rural areas were invited to share their experiences of decision making around transfer in labour. Ethics approval was obtained from the NZ National Ethics Committee.

Objective: to explore midwives׳ decision making processes when making transfer decisions for slow labour progress from rural areas to specialist care.

Intelligent Structured Intermittent Auscultation (ISIA): evaluation of a decision-making framework for fetal heart monitoring of low-risk women.

Background: Research-informed fetal monitoring guidelines recommend intermittent auscultation (IA) for fetal heart monitoring for low-risk women. However, the use of cardiotocography (CTG) continues to dominate many institutional maternity settings.

Methods: A mixed methods intervention study with before and after measurement was undertaken in one secondary level health service to facilitate the implementation of an initiative to encourage the use of IA.

The emotional journey of labour-women's perspectives of the experience of labour moving towards birth.

Background: there has been minimal exploration of women's emotional flow during labour and towards birth. This research aimed to capture woman's remembered experiences of this process.

Method: a critical feminist standpoint methodology guided this research which used in depth interviews to explore the perspectives of 18 women who had experienced a spontaneous labour and birth.

Are first-time mothers who plan home birth more likely to receive evidence-based care? A comparative study of home and hospital care provided by the same midwives.

Background: "Place of birth" studies have consistently shown reduced rates of obstetric intervention in low-technology birth settings, but the extent to which the place of birth per se has influenced the outcomes remains unclear. The objective of this study was to compare birth outcomes for nulliparous women giving birth at home or in hospital, within the practice of the same midwives.

Methods: An innovative survey was generated following a focus group discussion that compared midwifery practice in different settings.

Women's perspectives of the stages and phases of labour.

Background: within childbirth there is a common and widely known explanation of labour and birth which describes and defines the birth process as stages and phases. The aim of this research was to determine whether the discourse of labour as stages and phases resonated with women who had experienced spontaneous labour and birth.

Method: a critical feminist standpoint methodology was used to explore the perspectives of 18 New Zealand women through in-depth, one to one, interviews.

Consultation, referral, and collaboration between midwives and obstetricians: lessons from New Zealand.

There has been substantial growth in the provision of midwifery-led models of care, yet little is known about the obstetric consultation and referral practices of these midwives or the quality of the collaboration between midwives and obstetricians. This study aimed to describe these processes as they are practised in New Zealand, where midwifery-led maternity care is the dominant model. A total population postal survey was conducted that included 649 New Zealand midwives who provided midwifery-led care in 2001.

Design and evaluation of a community participatory, birth preparedness project in Cambodia.

Objective: to evaluate a pilot project, which used a community participatory approach to introduce birth preparedness in rural Cambodia.

Design: a feasibility and outcome evaluation. This included observation, interview, document analysis and costing.