This book is the first comprehensive international overview of maternity services. Drawing on concepts of risk and social citizenship, it explores the relationship between welfare regimes and health policy by comparing and contrasting provision for childbearing women. Each substantive chapter focuses on a different country, presenting detailed contextual information on health care provision, maternity interventions and birth outcomes there. They discuss key issues such as birth rates and fertility patterns, the role of patient choice, attitudes to place of birth and maternity entitlements among others, and the countries covered represent diverse welfare regimes, including Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. An extended introduction and a conclusion draw the book together and place it in the context of the literature on comparative welfare regimes. It is an important reference for students and academics interested in comparative social policy, health services research, and maternity services and policies.

The delivery of high quality and equitable care for both mothers and newborns is complex and requires efforts across many sectors. The United States spends more on childbirth than any other country in the world, yet outcomes are worse than other high-resource countries, and even worse for Black and Native American women. There are a variety of factors that influence childbirth, including social determinants such as income, educational levels, access to care, financing, transportation, structural racism and geographic variability in birth settings. It is important to reevaluate the United States' approach to maternal and newborn care through the lens of these factors across multiple disciplines. Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice reviews and evaluates maternal and newborn care in the United States, the epidemiology of social and clinical risks in pregnancy and childbirth, birth settings research, and access to and choice of birth settings.

This textbook is the first authoritative, in-depth publication about global midwifery and the contribution of skilled professional midwives to the provision of high quality maternity care, reductions in maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. It demonstrates actions that are contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals through partnership with women and their families, enabling them to ‘survive, thrive and transform’. The textbook explores how the world is becoming more connected through globalisation, advances in technology and innovation and yet more inequitable as women and children are disproportionately affected by issues such as poverty, environmental vulnerability, hunger, conflict, violence, and discrimination. It considers how midwives contribute to maternal and newborn health, leading to greater equity and empowerment and, ultimately, strengthening health systems. The ‘three pillars’ of midwifery are discussed: regulation, education and professional midwives’ associations. The importance of evidence-based care is explored along with diff erent models of midwifery and the challenges of developing professional leadership. This textbook also considers women’s human rights to sexual and reproductive health and respectful maternity care, stressing the importance of cultural sensitivity and contextually appropriate approaches. Midwives and other professionals will benefi t from this reliable resource that indicates direction and provides information about the principles and practice of professional midwifery. This text also provides universities, organisations, and individuals with a highly relevant resource to better equip them for international midwifery practice. It finally offers policy makers a reliable source of evidence-based information for consideration in various evolving national and international situations.

At a time of upheaval for the NHS, this text discusses the contemporary social context and policy drivers affecting childbirth and maternity services in the UK, making clear links to practice throughout. Complex health and social care demands, and particularly the policy commitment to choice for women and their families, are propelling midwives to work in innovative ways. The book outlines the environment within which midwives are operating – taking into account factors such as the population's changing demographic profile, rising fertility rates and health inequalities. New service models, new technologies and a plurality of providers – from acute to primary care, from the NHS to private or third sector organisation – have changed the structure and delivery of maternity care further. The chapters include key points for practice and narrative-style case studies drawing upon the perspectives of both women and their partners, and health professionals to illustrate the impact and relevance of policy to midwifery practice. Providing an up-to-date discussion of the social context of midwifery and policy, this much-needed resource provides midwifery students and practitioners with an overview of contemporary maternity services.

This open access edited book brings together new research on the mechanisms by which maternal and reproductive health policies are formed and implemented in diverse locales around the world, from global policy spaces to sites of practice. The authors – both internationally respected anthropologists and new voices – demonstrate the value of ethnography and the utility of reproduction as a lens through which to generate rich insights into professionals’ and lay people’s intimate encounters with policy. Authors look closely at core policy debates in the history of global maternal health across six different continents, including: Women’s use of misoprostol for abortion in Burkina Faso The place of traditional birth attendants in global maternal health Donor-driven maternal health programs in Tanzania Efforts to integrate qualitative evidence in WHO maternal and child health policy-making Anthropologies of Global Maternal and Reproductive Health will engage readers interested in critical conversations about global health policy today. The broad range of foci makes it a valuable resource for teaching in medical anthropology, anthropology of reproduction, and interdisciplinary global health programs. The book will also find readership amongst critical public health scholars, health policy and systems researchers, and global public health practitioners.

The evaluation of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Volume 3 focuses on developments since the publication of DCP2 and will also include the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume. The DCP3 evaluation of these conditions produced three key findings: 1. There is significant difficulty in measuring the burden of key conditions such as unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, nonsexually transmitted infections, infertility, and violence against women. 2. Investments in the continuum of care can have significant returns for improved and equitable access, health, poverty, and health systems. 3. There is a large difference in how RMNCH conditions affect different income groups; investments in RMNCH can lessen the disparity in terms of both health and financial risk.

The evidence surrounding the skills and approaches to support good birth has grown exponentially over the last two decades, but so too have the obstacles facing women and midwives who strive to achieve good birth. This new book critically explores the complex issues surrounding contemporary childbirth practices in a climate which is ever more medicalised amidst greater insecurity at broad social and political levels. The authors offer a rigorous, and thought-provoking, analysis of current clinical, managerial and policy-making environments, and how they have prevented sustaining the kind of progress we need. The Politics of Maternity explores the most hopeful developments such as the abundant evidence for one-to-one care for women, and sets these accounts against the background of changes in health service organisation and provision that block these approaches from becoming an everyday occurrence for women giving birth. The book sets out the case for renewed attention to the politics of childbirth and what this politics must entail if we are to give birth back to women. Designed to help professionals cope with the transition from education to the reality of the system within which they learn and practise, this inspiring book will help to assist them to function and care effectively in a changing health care environment.

Prenatal care programs have proven effective in improving birth outcomes and preventing low birthweight. Yet over one-fourth of all pregnant women in the United States do not begin prenatal care in the first 3 months of pregnancy, and for some groupsâ€"such as black teenagersâ€"participation in prenatal care is declining. To find out why, the authors studied 30 prenatal care programs and analyzed surveys of mothers who did not seek prenatal care. This new book reports their findings and offers specific recommendations for improving the nation's maternity system and increasing the use of prenatal care programs.

Optimizing outcomes for women in labor at the global level requires evidence-based guidance of health workers to improve care through appropriate patient selection and use of effective interventions. In this regard, the World Health Organization (WHO) published recommendations for induction of labor in 2011. The goal of the present guideline is to consolidate the guidance for effective interventions that are needed to reduce the global burden of prolonged labor and its consequences. The primary target audience includes health professionals responsible for developing national and local health protocols and policies, as well as obstetricians, midwives, nurses, general medical practitioners, managers of maternal and child health programs, and public health policy-makers in all settings.