Midwifery is a vital profession in the world. Since its inception as a program run to assist medical practitioners in early 1970s, it has grown to become one of the most recognized medical practices in hospitals (Page & McCandlish, 2006).There are various factors that affect midwifery and hence midwife-woman partnerships. Some of them include the political and socio-cultural factors as shall be discussed in this essay. The cultural factors involve the relations of the woman and the society’s constructions of the ways of life of the people and the overall policy in the conception and delivery of babies. Every region has their own cultures and social grasping that they grapple with, and therefore the effects faced are of a multifaceted approach. Though this is the approach adopted in this paper, there is an angling towards a global look onto the effects affecting and influencing the deliveries made by midwives and the overall field (Marta, 2009; Talbot & Verinder, 2005; Rosemary, 2012).
As expostulated above, some of the factors affecting midwifery include: poor communication culture, lifestyles of the people involved, and demographic anticipations by the government in population control, belief in personalized care in delivery in hospitals, poverty and uncanny beliefs in delivery modes. Page and McCandlish (2006), assert that poor communication is responsible for a number of issues in the delivery and midwifery professions. Many women who were interviewed about the delivery and the guidance accorded during the prenatal stages of delivery revealed that communication was the best way in making them fully understand and adhere to the best practices and eventual delivery. While some people have found improper communication with regard to the pregnancy and delivery others have often sought information before the eventual day. This has led to better delivery and guided parentage during the initial stages of baby care (Marta, 2009). Most parents agree that proper care is accorded when communication is well channelled leading to a better information bank by the relevant authorities. Women are also informed of what to do and how to behave, thus leading to a smooth delivery process and eventual bonding with the midwives (Rosemary, 2012). This therefore augurs well with the midwife-woman partnership leading to a boost in the relations.
Another factor that influences midwifery and delivery in the society include the lifestyle and early childhood experience of the mother. While observing the effects of cultural influence on midwifery, Willis, Reynolds and Keleher (2009) observe that the lifestyle of many young mothers determines the level of entry and complication in the delivery process. Women who are obese for instance find it very hard to deliver (Willis et al., 2009). This puts the chances of survival of the baby into greater risks as most babies may fail to survive the delivery due to the logistics involved, lifestyle therefore plays a lot of influenced on the overall delivery.
Mothers can also advance their own choice and preferences with regard to pregnancy issues. Some mothers would want independent delivery where they only seek medical attention when it is only inevitable or during complications. Mothers who prefer self-delivery may lead to a detachment from the relationship that is being built between the midwife and the mother (ANMC, 2008). In these cases, mothers will find the role of the midwife unworthy it eventually strangling the relationship in question. As O ‘Luanaigh and Carlson (2005) posit that this will eventually lead to a constrained relationship between them and the mother; something which is not healthy for the mother to be and the child.
Poverty is yet another factor that continues to influence midwifery and woman partnerships in the whole delivery process (Marta, 2009). This is evidenced through the way mothers who cannot afford quality medical attention indulge in dangerous delivery processes. Some people even try to delivery on their own without assistance, thus putting the life of the infant in danger. If people do not afford medical attention, they will more often seek cheap midwifery services in the neighbourhood. This will in most cases lead to a distracted attention between the midwifes and the mother as they are not properly trained to handle the mothers in terms of offering advice, care giving and assistance in the delivery process (Willis et al., 2009).
Cultural practice in the health facilities may also influence the relationship between the mother and the midwifery services accorded to the mother. Some hospitals and health facilities have predetermined rules and norms of operation which may be limiting to the extent of interaction and scope of assistance offered to the patients (O ‘Luanaigh & Carlson, 2005). For instance the work ethics may be culturally determined in the levels of handling. Decisions may be made based on a social norm, for example which nurse or midwife should attend to a patient of a particular type. Here considerations are made sometimes based on the level of complexity or medical level of the nurse of midwife. When this happens most the relationship may also be sabotaged.
Fatalism may also be a factor that affects the relationship of midwives and the mothers to be. Marta (2009) defines fatalism in terms of the pre-eminence accorded to a particular norm to such extent that nothing can be done by the midwives in the work place. They will often fall back and say that is the procedure to be followed hence service based on established norms that may hinder proper understanding and good relations with the patients in the maternity. When the mothers are fatally told to follow some established procedures in the whole process in accessing the service, (especially when under duress) it will hinder the interaction hence the bonding may be broken on such levels (ANMC, 2008).
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) (2008) acknowledge that some cultures do not appreciate reporting of statistics and patient information. This therefore may lead to a conflict or withdrawal from the services offered by the midwives by women who come from such cultures. This therefore means that women who consider the counting of children at birth and the recording of information as a taboo or some kind of bad practice will likely to develop wrong views about the midwives. This will eventually culminate into a bigger problem where they will lack to draw identity with them (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2008). Eventually there will be falling out of place with the practice hence interference with midwife-women partnership in boosting the whole process of delivery and antenatal care.
The socio-political factors include micro and macro-politics in the choice of healthy workers or community workers to deal with the problem of midwifery, the globalization that affects local worlds and demographic anticipations in population control. Wentworth (1996) argues that some health facilities are affected by the political indecisiveness in the midwifery procedures, usually in the manner relating to who and when the medic chosen to attend to the patient does so. Some medics are appointed on special occasions depending on different factors. There is also the problem of globalization.
The health fraternity is one of the professions that have overseen the problem of globalization in terms of practice and political culture of the countries of operation. This can be attributed to a number of reasons such as poor governance and infrastructural reforms in the medical fraternity (Wentworth, 1996). Most midwives complain of operating in poor backgrounds and often fail to be officially recognized by governments as part and parcel of the medical schemes. These problems lead to a number of problems which include ,poor remunerations, poor working conditions and the overall relationship between women and midwives in the legal partnership as developed by the group perspective described above is placed under a sabotage leading to bad influence on the overall functioning and effect of the working.
Political systems of the health facilities may also hinder or influence the relationships in this essay. Governance and political processes in the running of the affairs will normally influence the way relationships are shaped in the overall interaction in the hospitals. For instance, the governance and running of health facilities influence the acquisition of services in the level ground in the communities involved (Talbot & Verinder, 2005).Political positioning will normally influence who gets the services and at what levels of delivery. Talbot and Verinder (2005) note that the political rubric of a country or system of governance is the steering wheel in terms of amalgamating the overall relationship of the factors of interaction. In this case, the women patient and the midwives involved will often be influenced by the political stand in the country or health facility. This is so because the overall determination of the social (rules of relations and levels of interaction), the economic empowerment in terms of facility, and the cultural effects are shaped by the political policy adopted in the country (Marta, 2009). These therefore manifest the pertinence of a country adopting a sound legal and political system to boost the interaction and relationship of the parties involved.
The maternal health care in the Australian country needs a thorough revisiting in terms of policies and measures taken to oversee a well-balanced healthy society. Some of the issues that need to be addressed in midwifery and boosting maternal care include the adoption of a policy that supports better education for midwives, sensitization of the society (especially mothers) of the roles and merits of being attended to by a midwife, funding of health centres to acquire better resources for improved health practice et cetera. Primary Health Care Reform in Australia (2009) notes that supported patient-centred health literacy, self-management and individual preference in the maternal midwifery processes will lead to a better relationship between midwives and women in the whole delivery process. There should also be a well-integrated, coordinated provision of care, particularly for pregnant women. An adoption of an accessible, clinically and culturally appropriate, timely and affordable health inclination is pertinent in ensuring proper relations in the overall interaction of the parties concerned. This will ensure that patients from all walks of life, and without regard to any factor (whether poverty, race or origin) are assisted in the best practice available (Marta, 2009).
In promoting the relationship between women and midwives, it is important for midwives to implement three strategies which are: forming alliances with other practitioners, alliances with other midwives, and alliances with women (Willis et al., 2009). Relationships are developed through networking with the three stakeholders. Therefore according to Willis et al., (2009), midwives can achieve the maximum relationship status through: maximum utilization of midwife skills; regular training and attending seminars on latest; putting women with particular needs in touch with each other; joining campaign groups advocating for financing maternity services; and offering supervision, care, and education to expectant mothers.
In conclusion, midwife-women partnership in the process of delivery and antenatal care is a pertinent issue in the health sector especially in the baby care levels of birth. Women who indulge in poor lifestyles such as drug use, unhealthy eating habits and overall indulgence in activities that may lead to a complication at birth constrain the levels of partnership. The cultural and socio-political factors established in this essay may lead to adoption of a very poor model of midwifery care. When the relationship between the mothers (women) and midwives is based on cordiality, then the interaction and model of care is going to be better. Women prefer a partnership with their healthcare givers in a friendly and approachable manner thus boosting the partnership as entailed in the exposition above.
References
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