Being an effective midwife requires a range of knowledge and skills, all of which are essential to provide competent and safe care to childbearing women and their infants. Midwifery Skills at a Glance offers an invaluable, straightforward guide for students and practitioners – offering readable, easily digestible information, supported with illustrations throughout to enhance application to practice.
Clear and concise throughout, Midwifery Skills at a Glance covers a wide range of skills – exploring issues such as infection control, personal hygiene care, and safeguarding; assessment, examination and screening skills; how to care for the woman and neonate with complex needs; drug administration and pain relief.
- A comprehensive, highly visual guide to the skills essential for safe, effective, and compassionate midwifery practice
- Written by experts in their field
- Briefly describes each skill and provides clear illustrations - making it an ideal companion in clinical practice
- Offers instruction on the safe use of a wide range of essential skills required to deliver safe, evidence-based maternity care
- Includes service user viewpoints and key points to help consolidate learning and reflect on the experience of receiving care
Written with the student midwife in mind, Midwifery Skills at a Glance is equally invaluable for all others providing care, including Maternity Support Workers, mentors, registered midwives and medical students.
Table of Contents
Contributors viii
Foreword xi
Preface xii
The basics of care 1
Infection control
1 Infection prevention and control 2
2 Hand hygiene 4
3 Infectious diseases in pregnancy 6
4 Modes of transmission 8
5 Asepsis and sepsis 10
Health and safety at work
6 Moving and handling 12
7 The control of substances hazardous to health 14
8 Safety in the working environment 16
9 Sharps injuries 18
10 Working safely in the community 20
Personal hygiene care
11 Personal hygiene care for women 22
12 Perineal and vulval hygiene; use of bedpans and commodes 24
13 Pressure area care 26
Quality and patient safety in maternity care
14 Risk management, liability and avoidable harm 28
15 Types of incident, incident reporting, record keeping and duty of candour 30
16 Audit and quality assurance in maternity care 32
Safeguarding
17 Safeguarding vulnerable women 34
18 Safeguarding of children: key issues 36
19 Female genital mutilation 38
Assessment, examination, screening and care of the woman and baby 41
Assessment of the woman
20 ‘Booking’: the initial consultation with the midwife 42
21 The antenatal appointment: physical and psychological assessment of the woman in pregnancy 44
22 Abdominal examination in pregnancy 46
23 Physical and emotional assessment after birth 48
Care of the woman in labour
24 Assessing the woman in labour 50
25 Abdominal examination in labour 52
26 Vaginal examinations in labour 54
27 Positions in labour and birth 56
28 Supporting and caring for women in labour 58
29 Supporting and caring for the partner 60
30 Care of the perineum in labour including episiotomy and suturing 62
31 Examination of the placenta and membranes 64
32 Urinary catheterisation 66
The fetus in pregnancy and labour
33 Assessing fetal wellbeing in pregnancy and labour 68
34 Monitoring the fetal heart in pregnancy and labour 70
Assessment and examination of the neonate
35 The Apgar score 72
36 The midwife’s examination of the baby at birth including identification of the neonate 74
37 Appearance and characteristics of the well term neonate 76
38 Overall daily assessment of the term neonate including vital signs and bladder and bowel function 78
39 Newborn and infant physical examination 80
40 The term, preterm and growth-restricted baby 82
Caring for the newborn
41 Providing daily hygiene for the neonate including changing a nappy 84
42 Bathing the newborn 86
43 Breastfeeding 88
44 Formula feeding 90
45 Other feeding methods 92
46 Neonatal blood screening (‘heel prick’) 94
Blood sampling and cannulation
47 Maternal venepuncture, including glucose tolerance testing 96
48 Cord blood and neonatal capillary blood sampling 98
49 Venous cannulation of the woman 100
Taking and testing other body samples
50 Urinalysis 102
51 Specimen collection – stool specimen 104
52 Taking a wound swab 106
53 Use of a vaginal speculum and taking a vaginal swab 108
The woman or neonate with different needs 111
Induction/stimulation of labour
54 Membrane sweep 112
55 Insertion of vaginal prostaglandin E2 114
56 Artificial rupture of membranes 116
Care skills for the woman with complex needs
57 Recognising the deteriorating woman 118
58 CVP, Spo2 and ECGs 120
59 Fluid balance monitoring 122
60 Peak flow measurement in the woman 124
61 MEOWS, AVPU, GCS and SBAR 126
62 Care of the deceased 128
Care skills for the baby with complex needs
63 Recognising deterioration in the neonate 130
64 Neonatal jaundice 132
65 Hypoglycaemia 134
66 Hypothermia 136
Wound care
67 Wound assessment 138
68 Wound dressings and drains 140
69 Wound closures 142
Prevention of venous thromboembolism
70 Assessment of venous thromboembolism risk and prevention of deep vein thrombosis in childbirth 144
71 Application and use of compression stockings 146
Drug administration in midwifery 149
Routes of administration
72 Drug administration, handling and storage 150
73 Administration by injection to the woman 152
74 Intravenous administration of drugs 154
75 Medicine administration by oral, rectal, vaginal, topical and inhalation routes 156
76 Neonatal drug administration 158
77 Immunisation 160
Pain relief
78 Regional analgesia 162
79 Non-pharmacological methods of pain relief 164
80 Transfusion of blood and blood products 166
81 Anti-D: preventing rhesus isoimmunisation 168
Appendices 170
Key references and further reading 172
Glossary 182
Index 184
