Best practices in midwifery : using the evidence to implement change

Awarded second place in the 2013 AJN Book of the Year Awards in the Maternal-Child Nursing/Childbirthing category
"This book is one of those turning points that will make an enormous difference.

Judith P. Rooks , CNM, MS, MPH
Author of Midwifery and Childbirth in America

This book provides a well-rounded examination of the issues we face in using evidence to inform our everyday clinical decisions...The authors have gathered current evidence and created practice scenarios to help the reader visualize EBP in action.

In a country that has more independent midwives and group practices than hospital based midwives this type of book could possibly become the cornerstone in terms of the standards of midwifery care."-- Nursing Times

From the Foreword by Holly Powell Kennedy , CNM, PhD, FACNM, FAAN
President, American College of Nurse Midwives
Helen Varney Professor of Midwifery
Yale University School of Nursing

Nurse-midwives often find themselves in situations where current research-based treatment conflicts with established practices that may be ineffective or even harmful. This text provides a roadmap for nurse-midwives who strive to implement change through evidence-based practice by presenting the most current evidence-based research on the care of childbearing women. It is the only book about evidence-based practice for nurse-midwives that encompasses the most controversial areas of practice. The text incorporates the foundations of midwifery and the midwifery model of care throughout.

The book discusses the use of electronic databases in examining evidence and identifying best practices. It considers how the current workforce environment affects the practice of nurse-midwifery, and describes evidence-based practices in the care of childbearing women. Each chapter reviews current literature, describes contemporary practices and explores whether these practices are based on scientific evidence. Case studies enhance the examination of evidence and the identification of best practices.

Key Features:

Focuses on scientific evidence as the framework for the practice of nurse-midwifery Incorporates the hallmarks of midwifery and the midwifery model of care Examines practices that are in conflict with scientific evidence Provides guidance for practicing nurse-midwives in implementing best practices based upon scientific evidence

• Contributors p. ix
• Foreword p. xi Holly Powell Kennedy
• Preface p. xiii
• Section I Evidence-Based Maternity Care: The External Environment
• 1 Evaluating and Using the Evidence p. 3 Billie Anne Gebb and Zach G. Young and Barbara A. Anderson
• 2 The Evidence for Providing the Midwifery Workforce p. 15 Barbara A. Anderson and Rebeca Barroso
• Section II Evidence-Based Best Practices in the Care of the Childbearing Woman
• 3 Centering Pregnancy: An Evidence-Based Model of Prenatal Care p. 31 Deborah Brandt Karsnitz and Margaret Holcomb
• 4 Therapeutic Presence and Continuous Labor Support: Hallmarks of Nurse-Midwifery p. 43 Robin G. Jordan
• 5 Home Birth: Evidence and Controversy p. 59 Suzan Ulrich and Tonya B. Nicholson
• 6 The Birth Center: Innovation in Evidence-Based Midwifery Care p. 79 Eunice K M. Ernst and Susan E. Stone
• 7 Evidence-Based Practices to Promote, Support, and Protect Breastfeeding p. 101 Janet L. Engstrom and Paula P. Meier and Karen DeCocker-Geist
• 8 Mental Health During Childbearing: The Evidence for the Midwifery Model of Care p. 119 Deborah Brandt Karsnitz and Nora Webster
• Section III The Intrapartal Period: The Conflict of Evidence and Practice
• 9 Management of Prelabor Rupture of the Membranes at Term: Using the Evidence p. 139 Amy Marowitz
• 10 Tethering in Labor: The Effect of Current Practices on the Normalcy of Labor p. 153 Susan Yount and Meghan Garland
• 11 Untethering in Labor: Using the Evidence for Best Practice p. 171 Susan Yount and Meghan Garland
• 12 The Limits of Choice: Elective Induction and Cesarean Birth on Maternal Request p. 185 Kerri D. Schuiling and Joan K Slager
• 13 Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: Emotion and Reason p. 201 Mayri Sagady Leslie
• 14 The Second Stage of Labor: Using the Evidence to Protect Normal Birth p. 225 Kathryn Osborne
• 15 Postpartum Hemorrhage: Best Practices in Management p. 243 Tia Andrighetti
• Index p. 257