Moral distress in midwifery practice: A Delphi study.

Background: Moral distress is a psychological concept that describes the harm associated with actions or inactions that oppose an individuals' moral beliefs. Moral distress is linked to moral compromise in the workplace that may negatively impact mental wellbeing. Current tools available to assess moral distress are not specific for the Australian health care system or midwifery practice.

Exploring moral distress in Australian midwifery practice.

Problem: Australian midwives are considering leaving the profession. Moral distress may be a contributing factor, yet there is limited research regarding the influence of moral distress on midwifery practice.

Background: Moral distress was first used to describe the psychological harm incurred following actions or inactions that oppose an individuals' moral values.

Development of the Woman-Centred Care Scale- Midwife Self Report (WCCS-MSR).

Background: Woman-centred care is recognised as a fundamental construct of midwifery practice yet to date, there has been no validated tool available to measure it. This study aims to develop and test a self-report tool to measure woman-centred care in midwives.

Methods: A staged approach was used for tool development including deductive methods to generate items, testing content validity with a group of experts, and psychometrically testing the instrument with a sample drawn from the target audience.

Midwifery students experience of continuity of care: A mixed methods study.

Background: Continuity of Care Experiences are a mandated component of Australian midwifery programs leading to registration. Despite research evidence of the benefits of Continuity of Care Experiences for student learning and for women, there is limited evidence on the personal impact of this experience to students. Additionally, there is limited guidance on how to best support students to successfully complete this valuable component of their program.

Storytelling: One arts-based learning strategy to reflect on clinical placement. An integrative review.

Storytelling is one method of arts-based learning. The pedagogy of arts-based learning integrates the arts into another topic to enhance learning. Nursing students' experiences of clinical placement are often complex.

Improving male involvement in antenatal care in low and middle-income countries to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV: A realist review.

Background: Childhood Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection occurs almost exclusively via mother to child transmission (MTCT) during pregnancy, birth, or through breastfeeding. Recent studies have shown that male involvement (MI) in antenatal care (ANC) and HIV testing, including couples voluntary counselling and testing (CVCT), increases the likelihood that women will adhere to prevention advice and comply with HIV treatment if required during their pregnancy; hence reducing the rates of MTCT of HIV. This realist review investigates how, why, when, and for whom MI in ANC works best to provide contextual advice on how MI in ANC can be best used for prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV.

What are the experiences of women with obesity receiving antenatal maternity care? A scoping review of qualitative evidence.

Problem: Obesity is a major public health problem and is rising in prevalence in child-bearing women. The complications of pregnancy in women with obesity are well documented. Pregnant women with obesity require different maternity care considerations to normal weight women.

A survey of Australian sonographer psychomotor teaching practices.

Objective: To report on the findings of a survey of sonographer skill-teaching practices in Australia using the SonoSTePs tool.

Method: A cross-sectional survey of all qualified sonographers registered with the Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry.

Results: The 528 responses showed the use of a two-step skill-teaching approach to teach scanning skills and the incorporation of additional instructional practices to support a learner's initial acquisition of scanning skills, which include: providing coaching and guidance as the skill is practised; performing physical guidance; providing immediate error correction; and providing end-task feedback.

Push and pull factors impacting the pedagogical approaches used by sonographers to teach scanning skills.

Objective: To report the qualitative findings of the inaugural survey of sonographer skill-teaching practices in Australia using the SonoSTePs tool.

Method: A national cross-sectional survey of all qualified sonographers registered with the Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registry. A mix of quantitative and qualitative data was collected.

A qualitative study of expectations and experiences of women using a social media support group when exclusively expressing breastmilk to feed their infant.

Background: Global recommendations are that mothers exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development, and health outcomes. When infants are unable to feed at the breast, giving expressed breastmilk is the preferred alternative. Mothers who exclusively express breastmilk are poorly supported in mainstream healthcare, and are increasingly using social media groups for assistance.

Barriers and enablers for midwives to use the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia's Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives.

Background: In 2010, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia introduced a new registration standard: Endorsement for scheduled medicines for midwives. The endorsement enables midwives to provide women with Medicare-rebatable care, prescribe relevant medications, and order relevant Medicare-rebatable diagnostics. Translating endorsement education into clinical midwifery practice has been slow, indicating the presence of barriers affecting midwives' ability to use this standard, despite it increasing their scope for service provision.

Mechanisms of support for exclusive breastmilk expressers in the community: a scoping review.

Background: The World Health Organization recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed until the age of six months. Breastfeeding is generally understood to mean the provision of human breastmilk to the infant by direct feeding at the breast, and interventions aimed at supporting exclusive breastfeeding are therefore targeted at this activity. However, breastfeeding is actually an umbrella term covering the provision of breastmilk to an infant by any means.

A qualitative study of factors that influence midwives' practice in relation to low-risk women's oral intake in labour in Australia.

Background: Restriction of food and fluids during labour increases women's discomfort, anxiety and stress which are associated with obstruction of the normal process of labour. Whilst research evidence and clinical guidelines recommend that normal uncomplicated labouring women should not be limited in their oral intake during labour, some midwives continue to restrict or discourage women's oral intake. To promote best practice, it is important to understand the influencing factors which affect midwives' decision-making processes.