High-Risk Midwifery Placements

• Published in: The Hands-On Guide to Midwifery Placements pp. 103 - 131
• Main Authors: Fisher, Margaret, Cescutti-Butler, Luisa
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated 2015; John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
• Subjects: childbearing continuum; high dependency care; high‐risk midwifery placements; intensive care; interprofessional teamwork; neonatal care; special care; transitional care
• DOI: 10.1002/9781119548904.ch5
• ISBN: 111871251X; 9781118712511

Midwives are the experts in normality in the childbearing continuum. They do their best to promote this at every opportunity, and try to work in partnership with women to achieve normal childbirth as far as possible. Caring for women and neonates at high risk requires midwives to demonstrate a range of skills, a depth of knowledge and a woman‐centred attitude. It is for this reason that high‐risk midwifery placements will be extremely valuable as they will witness for themselves, and gradually begin to participate in the care of these women who perhaps need their midwife even more. This chapter explores the categorisation of neonatal care introduced by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine. The categories include intensive care, high dependency care, special care and transitional care. An important aspect of caring for women in high‐risk categories is interprofessional teamwork.