From 1 February 2021 MIDIRS will have a new website and the Maternity and Infant Care (MIC) database will have a new platform. The new developments will provide innovative ways in which midwives, MSWs and student can access information resources. If you are a subscriber to MIDIRS Midwifery Digest or the Maternity and Infant Care (MIC) database, please read our questions and answers below to find out how you can create your account and keep accessing MIDIRS services: The cost of my MIDIRS subscription is going up. Why? As part of our new subscription offer, all subscribers now receive automatic ..read more

Shane AL, Sanchez PJ, Stoll BJ (2017). The Lancet, 390(10104), pp 1770-1780. Neonatal sepsis is the cause of substantial morbidity and mortality with precise estimates of neonatal sepsis burden varying by setting. Differing estimates of disease burden have been reported from high-income countries compared with reports from low-income and middle-income countries, while clinical manifestations range from subclinical infection to severe manifestations of focal or systemic disease. This paper by Shane, Sanchez and Stoll, discusses the epidemiology, causes, risk factors, diagnosis and management of ..read more

Obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI) is recognised as the most common cause of anal incontinence (AI) in childbearing-aged women (Marsh 2011), encompassing symptoms of flatus incontinence, passive soiling, incontinence of liquid or solid stool and faecal urgency. These symptoms can cause social and hygienic problems that lead to: isolation, limiting occupational and social activity negative effect on sexual function and consequent impact on relationships reduced self-esteem and reduced quality of life (Leigh & Turnberg 1982, Boreham et al 2005, Lo et al 2010, Keighley et al 2016) In the ..read more

Megregian M, Low LK, Emeis C et al (2020). Women and Birth 33(6):e519-26. A study which explored how midwives recognise ethical dilemmas in clinical practice, as well as their experiences of ethics learning, found that a range of professional ethical dilemmas, including challenges related to negotiating strained interprofessional relationships and protecting or promoting autonomy for women, had been experienced by the midwives who took part. Midwives in the study reported minimal midwifery-specific ethics content in their midwifery education. Aim Midwives are expected to identify and help reso ..read more

DeNicola N; Grossman D; Marko K; et al. Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol 135, no 2, February 2020, pp 371-382 A systematic review has found that telehealth interventions were associated with improvements in obstetric outcomes, perinatal smoking cessation, breastfeeding, early access to medical abortion services, and schedule optimization for high-risk obstetrics. OBJECTIVE To systematically review the effectiveness of telehealth interventions for improving obstetric and gynecologic health outcomes. DATA SOURCES We conducted a comprehensive search for primary literature in ClinicalTrials.gov ..read more

By RCM Policy Advisor Charlotte Wilson Midwifery is a demanding degree at the best of times, and for years this has been exacerbated by a lack of adequate financial support. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, midwifery students faced additional hardships and significant disruption to their studies. In July 2020, we surveyed our student membership to learn about their experience. We received 345 responses accounting for 5% of our student membership. Based on the responses we received, we found that when the pandemic began, 97 per cent of first year students had their clinical placement ended, and ..read more

Are you passionate about a particular midwifery topic? Have you just completed an exciting study or research project? If so, then MIDIRS Midwifery Digest is the perfect place in which to share your article with a global network of students, midwives and MSWs. We welcome article submissions that highlight new research and innovations in midwifery practice and education, but we also invite contributions that are topical, reflective, or based on personal experiences in both the UK and overseas. We are now seeking article submissions for the March 2021 issue. MIDIRS Midwifery Digest Our 136-page q ..read more

Furuta M (2020). Midwifery 87 (August 2020): 102739. This editorial, which appeared in the August 2020 issue of Midwifery, discusses the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has affected maternal health services in Japan in the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal periods.  Midwives in Japan, as in countries all over the world, are committed to providing women with the best possible care and are responding to the challenges presented by COVID-19 in a variety of ways. Amid concerns that testing procedures were inadequate, requiring a person to be exhibiting at least three typical COVID-19 s ..read more

One evening the frustration of seeing all the conversations and retweets around COVID, and its effects on BAME staff/communities, left me asking: who would be interested in a discussion in a virtual chat? I invited all those who responded and someone mentioned how great it was to be starting a ‘BAME’ maternity forum. I knew this was something I had to address. As an Asian I fall into the ‘BAME’ category and, while I use the term to have my voice heard, I do not identify with it at all. Most ‘BAME’ people, pre-COVID media, did not recognise this as a descriptor of ‘Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic ..read more

Knight M; Bunch K; Vousden N; et al (2020). BMJ 369 (8251): m2107 A UK population based cohort study carried out between 1st March 2020 and 14th April 2020, found that most pregnant women admitted to hospital with SARS-CoV-2 infection were in the late second or third trimester. The findings support guidance for continued social distancing measures in later pregnancy. Objectives  To describe a national cohort of pregnant women admitted to hospital with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the UK, identify factors associated with infection, and describe ..read more