Expanding the midwifes role in examining the newborn

Abstract

In 1993, Changing Childbirth, the report of the Expert Maternity Group made recommendations to provide continuity of carer, which would improve autonomy of the midwife. It suggested that some midwives would need to carry out some of the duties undertaken by senior house officers and recommend that professional training should be reviewed accordingly. More recently the government has made proposals in its document The National Plan for the New NHS (Department of Health, 2000) to empower appropriately qualified midwives to undertake a wider range of clinical tasks. Acceptance of this role by midwives can only serve to enhance and improve the quality and level of care given to women and their families.

A qualitative study exploring junior paediatricians', midwives', GPs' and mothers' experiences and views of the examination of the newborn baby

“…This confirms other research that midwives are well placed to undertake these examinations provided that they receive adequate training (Royal College of Midwives 2000, Micaelides 1995, Mackeith 1995, Lomax 2001, Seymour 1995. Hall has concluded that midwives could take this on, provided that clear guidelines, adequate training and paediatric support are provided (Hall 1996(Hall , 1999.…”

Examination of the newborn: The innocent heart murmur

“…While this is an American study, similar opinion reigns in the UK (Hall and Elliman, 2003;Lee et al, 2001;Bloomfield et al, 2003). On the other hand, there is research that suggests that midwives are in a better position to fulfil the aims of the examination Walker, 1999;Hall, 1999;Lomax, 2001;Lumsden, 2002;Wolke et al, 2002;Rogers et al, 2003;Williamson et al, 2005;Lee, 2006), as it is recognised that midwives are in a unique position to provide health advice and promote health education (Mitchell, 2002). The seminal work of Townsend et al (2004) observed midwives and Senior House officers (SHO) examining newborn infants in a randomised controlled trial of 826 examinations.…”

“…The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC, 2002) reinforced this by providing a legal framework for midwives to extend their scope of practice for the benefit of mother and infant. Lomax (2001) suggests that midwives who conduct the neonatal examination will be supporting strategies set out in the documents 'Making a difference' (DoH, 1999), the NHS Plan (DoH, 2000), and the vision of the Royal College of Midwives to increase midwifery autonomy (RCM, 2000) and contribute to a seamless service for the woman and her family.…”

The experience of student midwives being taught newborn infant physical examination (NIPE) as an extracurricular activity at a university in the UK: A descriptive survey study

“…In the UK NIPE was traditionally a doctor's role (Hall, 1999). However, with the reduction in junior doctor's hours (Townsend et al 2004) traditional role boundaries became blurred, including who performed the NIPE (Lomax, 2001). Simultaneously, there were calls to improve continuity of midwifery care and carer for women (Department of Health [DOH], 1993;2007).…”