Tagged / midwifery

Top three most accessed 2016 paper BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth

BU research, Featured academics, international, open access, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

bmc-media-luce-et-alIt is always nice to receive some good news just before Christmas.  The journal BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth informed us that our paper ‘“Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media’ was in the top three most popular papers [1].  This interdisciplinary paper crosses the boundaries between the study of maternity care & midwifery, sociology of health & illness, and that of the media.  With BU’s Dr. Ann Luce as first author, it is one of the top three accessed articles of nearly 400 articles published in 2016 (as of Dec 16th).     

 

Reference:

  1. Luce, A., Cash, M., Hundley, V., Cheyne, H., van Teijlingen, E., Angell, C., (2016) “Is it realistic?” the portrayal of pregnancy and childbirth in the media BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 40 http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-016-0827-x

Centre for Midwifery, Maternity and Perinatal Health (CMMPH) represented at the 5th European Midwives Association Education Conference

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ema-conference-flyer

The CMMPH was well represented at the above international conference highlighting innovations in education, practice and regulation. The conference was held this year in London and attended by HRH The Princess Royal. Presentations from CMMPH colleagues ranged from developing a common framework for assessing practice and innovative on-line education approaches, to dignity and care in pregnancy and childbirth and how evidence is utilised in practice.

Presentations (oral and poster) include:

  1. i) Grading Practice: A common framework to aid consistency and parity across midwifery education programmes in the UK, Fisher M and Way S
  2. ii) Dignity and care in pregnancy and childbirth: Educating student midwives, Hall J and Mitchell M I
  3. ii) The BRIEF randomised trial: do Cochrane summaries help midwifery students understand the findings of Cochrane systematic reviews? Alderdice, F and Hundley, V
  4. iv) UUPP study: Updating the understanding of perineal practice at the time of birth across the UK, Stride, S, Hundley, V, and Way, S.
  5. v) Promoting physiological birth in Malta: reflection on an educational project. Poster, Hall J and with three midwifery colleagues from Mater Dei Hospital, Malta
  6. vi) Not just ticking the boxes: online practice assessment in midwifery. Poster, Angell, C. Wilkins, C., Leamon, J. and Way, S.

Other research that is currently ongoing at BU, but was highlighted at the conference was the Interim report of the Human Rights & Dignity Experience of Disabled Women during Pregnancy, Childbirth and Early Parenting. Hall, J., Collins, B., Ireland, J. and Hundley, V.

group-photo

 

The photo is of (L-R) Jenny Hall, Sara Stride, Sue Way, Carol Wilkins, Catherine Angell and Vanora Hundley.

Midwifery Graduation: Honours & Awards

BU research, Events, Featured, international, PG research, Research news, student research, Uncategorized

alison-sheenaAlongside Bournemouth University’s midwifery and other health and social care students who graduated in last Friday’s ceremony, BU honoured prominent midwife Sheena Byrom OBE with an Honorary Doctorate for her services to the profession. Sheena Byrom gave an inspiring speech at Friday’s Graduation.  Sheena said, “If they can keep in their hearts the passion and the drive they had when they first came to the university, it will help them to be more resilient and keep them motivated towards what they want to do. Healthcare is a blend between love and science and both are equally important. In practice, it is key that they have the skills, but the things that makes the difference are love and compassion.”

rachelalisonedwinAlongside Sheena two students from the Centre of Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health(CMMPH) graduated with a PhD in Midwifery.  Dr. Alison Taylor received her PhD for her qualitative research on breastfeeding. Her thesis is entitled ‘It’s a relief to talk ….’: Mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding recorded on video diaries.  Dr. Rachel Arnold was awarded her PhD for her research Afghan women and the culture of care in a Kabul maternity hospital.

Congratulations to all BU undergraduates and Rachel, Alison and Sheena!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

EU award for PhD student Preeti Mahato

EU, Featured, international, PG research, Publishing, Research news, student research, Uncategorized

FHSS PhD student Preeti Mahato in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) has been awarded a funded place on the COST Action Training School BEYOND BIRTH COHORTS: from study design to data management.  This training school will run from 23-15 November in Spain.

eu-flagCOST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a unique platform where European researchers can jointly develop their ideas and initiatives across all scientific disciplines through trans-European networking of nationally funded research.  Preeti pal has been awarded the sum of 500 euro to cover the cost of attending the Training School and travel and accommodation costs.    Preeti’s PhD project is on maternity care provision in  Nepal. Preeti’s research focuses on the quality and equity of service available at birthing centres. In Nepal, birthing centres act as first contact point for the women seeking maternity services especially the basic obstetric care. She is supervised by Dr. Catherine Angell, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen and BU Visiting Faculty Prof. Padam Simkhada (based at Liverpool John Moores University).

Preeti has already published the first PhD paper ‘Birthing centres in Nepal: Recent developments, obstacles and opportunities’ in the Journal of Asian Midwives (JAM) [1], whilst another was published in the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology [2].  Furthermore, a more general health and development paper was published this year in Health Prospect [3].

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

  1. Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C. (2016) Birthing centres in Nepal: Recent developments, obstacles and opportunities, Journal of Asian Midwives 3(1): 17-30.
  2. Mahato, P.K., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Angell, C., Sathian, B. (2015) Birthing centre infrastructure in Nepal post 2015 earthquake. Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 5(4): 518-519. http://www.nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/14260/1157
  3. Regmi, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sharma, S., Mahato, P. (2016) Sustainable Development Goals: relevance to maternal & child health in Nepal. Health Prospect 15(1):9-10. healthprospect.org/archives/15/1/3.pdf

Czech midwifery lecturer on EU-funded visit to CMMPH

Featured academics, international, Research communication, Uncategorized

pilzen-2006

Eva Hendrych Lorenzová, midwife and midwifery lecturer from the Czech Republic, visited the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) this passed week.  Eva was awarded a travel grant as part of the EU-funded COST Action IS1405 Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM).  Eva spoke to colleagues and students at Bournemouth University as well as midwifery colleagues in Weymouth, Bournemouth, Poole and the New Forrest Birth Centre.eu-flag

 

Over the past five year, four different midwives from Continental Europe have been to Bournemouth University on an STSM exchange. Eva is the fourth one, and with Brexit most likely to be the last on this EU scheme!  Each of these four midwives had a different aim for their STSM project. The first STSM midwifery visitor five years ago was Susanne Grylka-Baeschlin. She did a methodological piece of research which resulted in the translation of the Mother-Generated Index into German to be used in Switzerland and Germany. The STSM was part of her MSc project supervised by Prof. Mechthild Gross and supported by Dr. Kathrin Stoll, both based at the Hannover Medical School in Germany.

In 2013 Dr. Ans Luyben, a Dutch midwife working in Switzerland, came over to BU for ten days. She came to develop the survey content on organisational system design and culture as part of the international survey, taking place during the COST Action. The work focused on organisational system design and culture in regard to antenatal care, including prenatal screening.

Eva & Jillian 2016

Eva and Jillian 2016

The third STSM midwifery visitor in 2014 was Dr. Fátima León Larios from Spain. Her STSM was much more practical, Fátima was keen to find out more about how small midwifery-led maternity units were being run in England. BU’s Visiting Faculty and Poole Community Midwife Jillian Ireland took her to visit four different maternity units in the south of England.  Jillian also organised Eva’s meeting with community midwives and midwives in various birthing centres in Dorset and the New Forrest in October 2016.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

CMMPH disability & childbirth research

BU research, Featured, Publishing, Uncategorized

Last month’s press release for the latest study in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) was picked up by the Journal of Family Health.  disability-pregnancy-2016The study ‘Human rights and dignities: Experience of disabled women during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting’ appeared under the heading ‘Maternity care failing disabled women, charity warns’ in the Journal of Family Health.  The charity in question is Birthrights which funded the survey of women with physical or sensory impairment or long-term health conditions and their maternity care experiences.  The research was conducted by midwifery researchers Jenny Hall, Jillian Ireland and Vanora Hundley at Bournemouth University and occupational therapist Bethan Collins, at the University of Liverpool.

rcm-disabilityLast month this important study had already been reported by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) on their webpages (click here to read more).  On the RCM website  Louise Silverton Director for Midwifery at the RCM said: “It is deeply disappointing to hear that women with disabilities are not getting the maternity care they need and deserve. Although this is only a small survey, it does provide a very valuable insight into the realties of the care these women have received while pregnant.  The RCM believes that maternity services should treat disabled women like every other woman, while ensuring that the care provided does not ignore or overreact to their specific wishes and aspirations.”

 

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

New paper Dr. Catherine Angell on CPD in Nepal

BU research, Centre for Excellence in Learning, Featured academics, Fusion, international, Knowledge Transfer, open access, Publishing, Research news, Training, writing

nnaCongratulations to Dr. Catherine Angell (FHSS) who just had her paper ‘Continual Professional Development (CPD): an opportunity to improve the Quality of Nursing Care in Nepal’ accepted in Health Prospect.   The paper is co-authored with BU Visiting Faculty Dr. Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Padam Simkhada  both based at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Dr. Rose Khatri  and Dr. Sean Mackacel-logo-weby (also at LJMU), Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery and Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH), and our colleagues in Dr. Sujan Marahatta and Associate Professor Chandra Kala Sharma. Ms. Chandra Kala Sharma is also the president of the Nepal Nursing Association (left in photo).  Health Prospect is an Open Access journal, hence freely available to anybody in Nepal (and elsewhere in the world).

dsc_0124This paper is first of several based on a study aiming to improve CPD in Nepal and it is partly funded by LJMU and partly funded by BU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning (CEL).  The CEL-funded part of the project centres on focus group research with representatives of the Ministry of Health & Population, the Ministry of Education, the Nepal Nursing Association and the Nursing Council, and Higher Education providers of Nurse Education (both form Government-run universities and private colleges). The focus group schedule will include starter questions to initiate discussions around the kind of CPD nurses in Nepal need, its format, preferred models, the required quality and quantity, and ways of  checking up (quality control). In addition we will be asking a subgroup of nurses registered in Nepal about midwifery skills as midwifery is not recognised as a separate profession from nursing in Nepal. Hence there will be three focus groups specifically about midwifery CPD: one at MIDSON (the Midwifery Organisation of Nepal), one with nurses providing maternity care in private hospitals and one with nurses doing this in government hospitals.

The research is a natural FUSION project in the field of nursing & midwifery as it links Research in the field of Education to help improve Practice in Nepal.

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

Reference:

  1. (CPD): an opportunity to improve the Quality of Nursing Care in Nepal, Health Prospect (Accepted) 

 

 

Midwifery-led antenatal care models

BU research, open access, Publishing, Research news, Uncategorized, writing

BU academics in CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinal Health) have been working with colleagues across the UK in the so-called McTempo Collaboration on mapping the key characteristics of midwifery-led antenatal care models. This week BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth published our paper that brings this evidence together [1].  The lead author of the paper, Dr. Andrew Symon, is based at the University of Dundee his co-authors are based at the University of Stirling, UCLAN, Queen’s University, Belfast, NHS Education for Scotland and Bournemouth University.  The McTempo (Models of Care: The Effects on Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes) collaboration is a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research grouping established to explore and evaluate differentcare models used in maternity care.

Symon et al 2016 frameworkOur specific aim in this paper was to map the characteristics of antenatal care models tested in Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to a new evidence-based framework for quality maternal and newborn care (QMNC) [2]. This offers the opportunity to identify systematically the characteristics of care delivery that may be generalizable across contexts, thereby enhancing implementation.  The paper concludes: “The QMNC framework facilitates assessment of the characteristics of antenatal care models. It is vital tounderstand all the characteristics of multi-faceted interventions such as care models; not only what is done but why itis done, by whom, and how this differed from the standard care package. By applying the QMNC framework we have established a foundation for future reports of intervention studies so that the characteristics of individual models can be evaluated, and the impact of any differences appraised.”

The paper has been published in an Open Access journal and is, therefore, easily available across the globe.

 

References:

  1. Symon, A., Pringle, J., Cheyne, H., Downe, S., Hundley, V., Lee, E., Lynn, F., McFadden, A., McNeill, J., Renfrew, M., Ross-Davie, M., van Teijlingen, E., Whitford, H, Alderdice, F. (2016) Midwifery-led antenatal care models: Mapping a systematic review to an evidence-based quality framework to identify key components and characteristics of care BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth 16: 168 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/16/168
  2. Renfrew MJ, McFadden A, Bastos MH, Campbell J, Channon AA, Cheung NF, Audebert Delage Silva DR, Downe S, Kennedy HP, Malata A, et al. (2014) Midwifery and quality care: findings from a new evidence-informed framework for maternal and newborn care. The Lancet, 384(9948): 1129-1145.

BU-Nepal link highlighted

BU research, international, Publishing, Uncategorized, writing

Talbot Himalayans 2016This week BU’s work in Nepal was highlighted in several ways.  Most publicly on the wonderful new mural at Talbot Campus.  Secondly, BU currently displays some of the entries of images to the past two years of its research photo competition.  The photos show the creativity of BU’s academics and students as well as the fascinating range of research taking place at the university.  One of these pictures was taken by FHSS Visiting Faculty Dr. Bibha Simkhada during fieldwork in Dhading, Nepal.  The selected photos are on display in the Atrium Art Gallery until the 13th of June.  Helicopter Dhading

Last, but not least, another FHSS Visiting Faculty, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust midwife Jillian Ireland published a blog on her involvement in the THET-funded project in Nepal.  She reflects on her time as UK volunteer in Nepal.  Jilly wrote: ” Three volunteers Andrea Lawrie, David Havelock and I are keen to share what we experienced in a paper sometime soon and today I will condense some of my own reflections. I wrote ‘letters’ (via email) to my Head of Midwifery, Sandra Chitty and to Senior Lecturer in Midwifery at Bournemouth University Dr. Jen Leamon while I was away, using different styles of expression to ‘get at’ my reflections from more than one angle. It helped me to separate out elements of the whole experience.”

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

New paper BU PhD student Sheetal Sharma

BU research, open access, PG research, Publishing, writing

Plos ONE Sheetal 2016Congratulations to FHSS PhD student Sheetal Sharma on her latest paper [1].  The paper ‘Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal’ appeared this week in the journal PLOS One.  Sheetal’s innovative mixed-methods approach was applied to a long-running maternity intervention in rural Nepal.  The paper concludes that community-based health promotion in Sheetal’s study had a greater affect on the uptake of antenatal care and less so on delivery care. Other factors not easily resolved through health promotion interventions may influence these outcomes, such as costs or geographical constraints. The evaluation has implications for policy and practice in public health, especially maternal health promotion.

Reference:

  1. Sharma, S., van Teijlingen, E., Belizán, J.M., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sicuri, E. (2016) Measuring What Works: An impact evaluation of women’s groups on maternal health uptake in rural Nepal, PLOS One 11(5): e0155144 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155144