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This book explores the lived experiences of newly qualified midwives working in free-standing birth centres, highlighting the emotional, professional, and sociological aspects of their journeys from novices to confident practitioners in an out-of-hospital setting. As newly qualified midwives transition from their educational settings to the low-tech environment in their free-standing birth centre, they broaden their skill set, develop hands-on skills, and learn, for example, to care for labouring women without continuous fetal monitoring.
This book spotlights the skills needed to work in free-standing birth centres, and the importance of becoming well integrated into a team which, in turn, allow newly qualified midwives to build confidence in their abilities and offer comprehensive care to women and their families throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Capturing the skill acquisition, learning and professional identity development of newly qualified midwives, this thoughtful book emphasizes the critical role of mentorship from experienced midwives and the supportive environment for midwives and families in free-standing birth centres, many of which also offer home birth services.
This book is an essential contribution to the literature around midwifery practice, with an emphasis on physiological birth, continuity of care, skill acquisition and professional identity development. It will be of use to students, practitioners and scholars with an interest in these areas.
List of contents
1. ASK a Midwife: Acquisition of Skills and Knowledge of Midwives in Free-Standing Birth Centres, 2. : Pathways into free-standing birth centre practice, 3. "
I still felt like a student at first." Stories of beginnings, 4. Becoming a part of birth stories: Attuning to the whole, 5. Opening up Pandora's jar: Honouring the power in women's stories, 6. Embodied practices: Giving voice to lived experience, 7. "
I've arrived." Welcoming babies into the world, 8. "
They're motivated and willing to work hard." Experienced midwives' lived experience of newly qualified midwives' orientation, 9. "
Not a good fit": The challenge to feel at home in team care, 10. "
She was labouring in a rain barrel when we arrived!": The surprising and awe-inspiring experiences of newly qualified midwives, 11. "
I was the last midwife to hear the fetal heartbeats." Intrauterine death in midwifery practice, 12. The power of reflection: Olivia's story, 13. "
I am the midwife I dreamt of becoming": Amelia's story, 14. Reclaiming presence
About the author
Nancy Iris Stone is an American-German midwife who has lived in Germany for nearly four decades. Qualifying as a midwife in 2001, she has worked across diverse settings, including hospital labour and delivery wards and a free-standing birth centre, and is currently practising in a hospital-based midwifery team. She studied sociology and public health, and was awarded her PhD in Community Health and Midwifery from the University of Central Lancashire in 2019. Her research focuses on birth in free-standing birth centres, with particular attention to women's and midwives' lived experience of pregnancy, labour, birth, and postpartum as critical knowledge for guiding midwifery practice and care. Passionate about midwifery practice, she is committed to fostering the transmission of skills and knowledge between generations of midwives.
