Empowerment and Advocacy in Midwifery Practice (Lvl 7)

Course Overview

PLEASE NOTE THIS MODULE WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE UNTIL THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2023/2024 – YOU WILL NEED TO APPLY AFTER MARCH 2023. To empower midwives to support women in achieving optimal childbirth experiences through advocacy, leadership and clinical decision making. Content  This module is designed to provide midwives with the opportunity to critically reflect on their personal practice and to examine the barriers within their working environment which inhibit the provision of women-centred midwifery care. The professional and legislative context within which practice is immersed will provide a framework for the direction of this module. Leadership qualities will be critically examined in terms of development of team-working, negotiation and delegation skills. This will result in the midwife examining strategies for conflict resolution and help him/her to support women to achieve an optimal birth experience in an environment of trust. This module will be delivered using a student-centred action learning approach in which students will bring triggers from their own practice experience from which the session structure will be determined. Topics that may be covered include: – Political Health care agenda- legislative changes; NHS; privatisation of care – Socioeconomic factors affecting maternity care provision – – Legal aspects of health care; clinical governance – Development of health policy – Advocacy – Empowering women to make informed choices – – Models of empowerment, application of principles in practice; conflict resolution – User involvement, strategies – Use of alternative practices – the debate -Application of the BFI Standards to practice – Managing pain non-pharmacological strategies – Induction of labour – Assessment of progress and fetal wellbeing in labour- promoting normal birth – Impact of birth environment on birth experience – Changing the culture of consultant led units to promote normality –  Self assessment- values, beliefs, experience, training, support for self and others – Influence of the media on childbirth – Birth afterthought services- debriefing service for women and their families.

Learning outcomes

  1. Evaluate the legislative and professional frameworks and critically apply this knowledge to enhance the midwives practice. 2. Evaluate and implement the leadership skills required to challenge barriers to promoting normal midwifery practice. 3. Critically analyse the current evidence available to support midwives to regain, develop and enhance practice based skills in order to provide woman centred care.   Skills and Attributes:    1. Critique interpersonal skills to enable effective team-working and develop expertise in resolving conflict in a multi-disciplinary environment. 2. Critically reflect on personal midwifery practice to enhance the development of a confident and competent practitioner of normal midwifery. 3. Critically examine the midwives role as an advocate for women working in partnership to provide an optimal childbirth experience in an atmosphere of trust.   What our students say: “Felt empowered to make a change”                    “Taking leadership forward and valuing practice”  

Assessment

  There is one written summative assessment