Humanising Birth : Considerations for the Global Maternity Crisis

This book develops on how, with the birth of every baby, comes the possibility of love, connection, and optimal health and well-being. It shows how the salutogenic pathways that are set up at the start of life are not only for the short term but throughout life, and into the next generation. The start of life is now a well-known point of health intervention as can be seen by many government health policies on the first 1000 days (from conception to age two). There is evidence to show that what occurs during birth and the early postnatal period affects the long-term health of the child. Birth is a significant moment in time not only for the child but also for the mother. There are increasing rates of mental health issues in this population, with maternal suicide being a leading cause of mortality in many high-income countries, and postnatal depression increasing in women/birthing people and partners/fathers, which has a significant impact on the developing family. This is occurring within the backdrop of an environment of increasing reports of disrespect and abuse during childbirth, and the dual issues of inadequate access to maternity care and over medicalisation.

Scaling up midwifery is seen as a vital part of the solution to current maternity crises but there are potential barriers to midwives providing humanised care within current birth settings, including witnessing or being complicit in dehumanising practices, feeling unsupported, or managing unsafe staffing levels. Humanising birth can be seen as a resistance to dehumanising, disrespectful, over-medicalised and industrialised birth practices, which is grounded in the language of human rights and ethics. In this book we provide a solution-focused approach to current complexities, through the idea of humanised birth, first providing a definition and domains, then exploring the idea from an institutional level, through the level of relationships, to the level of the individual. Support for the growth of secure bonds of love, health, and wellbeing, for thriving rather than just surviving, is critical not only to a healthy happy productive life, but also to cohesive, compassionate, creative and productive communities.

Dr. Elizabeth Newnham is Associate Professor of Midwifery at Flinders University. Her research is focused on seeking social justice solutions for humanising birth, through the development of four research streams: ethics, technology, environment and practice. Related work includes critical analysis of birth discourse and policy, and developing care ethics concepts for relational midwifery practice. She has published widely in these areas and been an invited speaker at conferences and events in Europe, the UK, the US and Australia. Research findings have been translated into policy and practice changes and cited in international policy. Other published works include Towards the humanisation of birth: A study of epidural analgesia and hospital birth culture (Palgrave Macmillan) and The Routledge Companion to Gender and Reproduction (Routledge).

Dr Lois McKellar is Prof. of Midwifery and Head of Discipline at Australian Catholic University. She has been a midwife for many years and is passionate about the well-being of women and children, and in 2019 was awarded the South Australian Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Award. Lois has a strong interest in translational research which informs practice and education. Her current research focusses on using co-design approaches to develop evidence-based strategies to improve the well-being of women and the development of healthy and resilient families. She is dedicated to excellence in midwifery education and equipping students for practice in the 21st century and beyond. A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Governor’s Leadership Foundation.

Dr Kaveri Mayra is a global health scientist from India. She has qualifications in midwifery, nursing and public health. She earned a PhD in Global Health from the University of Southampton, UK, where she explored the experiences and determinants of obstetric violence in India through an arts-based method called ‘birth mapping’. She served as a Subject Matter Expert with the WHO HQ to create the Essential Respectful Care Course. She won a 3 year Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research funding to work as a postdoctoral fellow at the Birth Place Lab, University of British Columbia (UBC) and is currently a Visiting Research Scholar at the W Maurice Center for Applied Ethics, within the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) at UBC. She has extensive research experience on nursing and midwifery workforce policies, regulation and practice, sexual, reproductive and maternal health care and the underlying gender-based challenges. Dr. Mayra is a global speaker and has delivered guest lectures in universities and at conferences around the world. Dr. Mayra was recognized as one of the 100 outstanding global midwife and nurse leaders by Women in Global Health, WHO, ICN, ICM, Nursing Now and UNFPA to mark the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife 2020. Dr. Mayra serves on the board of Human Rights in Childbirth, White Ribbon Alliance UK and Academy for Nursing Studies and Women's Empowerment Research Studies. She is a core member of Women in Global Health India.

Dr. Yvonne Kuipers is a Prof of Midwifery at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland and has a background that has encompassed a career in women’s reproductive health over 30 years.   Yvonne is a strong advocate for continuity of midwifery care, leading the international All-you-need-to-know-about-continuity-of-carer newsletter, sharing research and championing continuity successes, and leading the Scottish continuity of midwifery care research strategy. She has been awarded for the ISeeYou project, a woman-centred continuity of carer midwifery student project. Yvonne developed and tested the interactive tailored web-based cultural sensitive intervention WazzUp Mama, which effectively prevents and reduces perinatal maternal distress.  She was actively involved in the European  COST Action CA18211 Perinatal Mental Health and Birth-Related Trauma. She contributes to improving the wellbeing of women during the transition to parenthood and development of healthy and resilient families through research, publications, education and presenting at conferences.