Midwifery is the term traditionally used to describe the art of assisting a woman through childbirth. In the modern context, this term is used to describe the activities of these health care providers who are experts in women's health care including giving prenatal care to expecting mothers. They attend the birth of the infant and provide postpartum care to the mother and her infant. Practitioners of midwifery are known as midwives, a term used in reference to both women and men (the term means "with woman").

Midwives are autonomous practitioners who are specialists in normal pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum. Midwives are also primary care givers: providing general women's health care. Midwives are trained to recognize and deal with deviations from the norm. Obstetricians, in contrast, are specialists in illness related to childbearing and in surgery. The two professions are complementary. Midwives refer to obstetricians when a woman requires care beyond her areas of expertise. In many jurisdictions, these professions work together to provide care to childbearing women. In others, only the midwife is available to provide care. Midwives are trained to handle certain situations that are considered abnormal using non-invasive techniques, including breech birth on occasion. In many areas of the world, traditional birth attendants, also known as traditional midwives care for childbearing women.

International definition

---

More on [ Midwifery ]

WHO news

New drug being tested in Africa for river blindness
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0000
1 July 2009 -- The clinical trial of a drug that could eliminate river blindness is being launched in three African countries. Also known as onchocerciasis, this disease is one of the leading infectious causes of blindness across Africa.
Working relationship between the Russian Federation and WHO strengthened
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0000
26 June 2009 -- Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, today met Mr Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, during an official visit to the country. The visit has seen the strengthening of the working relationship between the Russian Federation and WHO.
Call to protect hospitals, schools from impact of disasters
Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0000
18 June 2009 -- WHO and UNICEF today called on governments to strengthen risk reduction measures so that health and education systems are able to cope with disasters.
WHO welcomes sanofi-aventis's donation of vaccine
Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:15:00 -0000
17 June 2009 -- WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan has welcomed the announcement by sanofi-aventis to donate 100 million doses of vaccine against the pandemic H1N1 2009 virus.
Pedestrians, cyclists among main road traffic crash victims
Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:00:00 -0000
15 June 2009 -- The first global assessment of road safety finds that almost half of the estimated 1.27 million people who die in road traffic crashes every year are pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists. While progress has been made towards protecting people in cars, the needs of these vulnerable groups of road users are not being met.
Greater equity in health should be a progress indicator
Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:00:00 -0000
15 June 2009 -- Greater equity in the health status of populations, within and between countries, should be regarded as a key measure of how we are making progress, said WHO Director-eneral Dr Margaret Chan today, speaking at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Subscribe to Health RSS feed