Southern Lay Midwives as Ritual Specialists

1978 ◽  
pp. 151-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly C. Dougherty
Keyword(s):  
Lay Midwives

scholarly journals Working with lay midwives to improve the detection of neonatal complications in rural Guatemala

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. e000775
Author(s):  
Michel Juarez ◽  
Yolanda Juarez ◽  
Enma Coyote ◽  
Tony Nguyen ◽  
Corey Shaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Level Of Care ◽  
Neonatal Complications ◽  
Neonatal Deaths ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Improvement Interventions ◽  
Lay Midwives

BackgroundGlobally most neonatal deaths occur within the first week of life and in low-income and middle-income countries. Strengthening health system linkages for frontline providers—such as lay midwives providing home-based obstetrical care—may improve neonatal outcomes in these settings. Here, we conducted a quality improvement study to increase the detection of neonatal complications by lay midwives in rural Guatemala, thereby increasing referrals to a higher level of care.MethodsA quality improvement team in Guatemala reviewed drivers of neonatal health services provided by lay midwives. Improvement interventions included training on neonatal warning signs, optimised mobile health technology to standardise assessments and financial incentives for providers. The primary quality outcome was the rate of neonatal referral to a higher level of care.ResultsFrom September 2017 to September 2018, participating midwives attended 869 home deliveries and referred 80 neonates to a higher level of care. A proportion control chart, using the preintervention period from January to September 2017 as the baseline, showed an increase in the referral rate of all births from 1.5% to 9.9%. Special cause was obtained in January 2018 and sustained except for May 2018. The proportion of neonates receiving assessments by midwives in the first week of life increased to >90%. A trend toward an increasing number of days between neonatal deaths did not attain special cause.ConclusionsStructured improvement interventions, including mobile health decision support and financial incentives, significantly increased the detection of neonatal complications and referral of neonates to higher levels of care by lay midwives operating in rural home-based settings in Guatemala. The results show the value of improving the integration of lay midwives and other first responders into neonatal systems of care in low-resource settings.

Working with the State

2018 ◽  
pp. 52-58
Author(s):  
Jenny M. Luke
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternity Care ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Birth Certificate ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
The State ◽  
Education Campaigns ◽  
Lay Midwives ◽  
State Board

Beyond their work as maternity care practitioners lay midwives fulfilled a crucial role in public health and this chapter describes their value as an extension of the state board of health. From their authoritative position in the community midwife clubs were extremely influential in organizing vaccination drives and education campaigns. The chapter discusses the state’s reliance on midwives to gather vital statistics, and the importance and consequences of submitting a birth certificate after each delivery.

Technology as a Last Resort in Home Birth: The Work of Lay Midwives

1983 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Home Birth ◽  
Lay Midwives

An attitude survey of lay-midwives and nurse-midwives

1981 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
N KREINBERG ◽  
M MCSWEENEY
Keyword(s):  
Attitude Survey ◽  
Nurse Midwives ◽  
Lay Midwives

The changing role of indigenous lay midwives in Guatemala: New frameworks for analysis

Midwifery ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 852-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Chary ◽  
Anne Kraemer Díaz ◽  
Brent Henderson ◽  
Peter Rohloff
Keyword(s):  
Lay Midwives ◽  
Changing Role

scholarly journals Lay Midwives: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Maternal Mortality in Rural Guatemala

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-238
Author(s):  
Michel Juarez ◽  
Kirsten Austad ◽  
Peter Rohloff
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Mortality ◽  
Lay Midwives

Technology as a Last Resort in Home Birth: The Work of Lay Midwives

1983 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Home Birth ◽  
Lay Midwives

Changing Childbirth Customs

2018 ◽  
pp. 118-120
Author(s):  
Jenny M. Luke
Keyword(s):  
Maternity Care ◽  
Women's Agency ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Women’S Agency ◽  
Lay Midwives ◽  
Equality Of Access

The shift towards macro-centered maternity care was not merely about improved safety in childbirth, a more complex situation is unravelled in chapter 13. Hopes for progress and inclusion and equality of access stimulated black women’s agency for change and micro level childbirth customs were adjusted accordingly. The implementation of Medicaid solidified the shift leaving licensed lay midwives in the distant past, figuratively speaking.

Licensing and the “New Laws”

2018 ◽  
pp. 32-38
Author(s):  
Jenny M. Luke
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
The State ◽  
Local State ◽  
Nurses And Physicians ◽  
Lay Midwives ◽  
State Board

This chapter introduces the supervision and licensing of lay midwives implemented with the passage of the Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act in 1921. It details the ways in which the midwives adapted to the increasing local, state and federal public health mandates, and how they interacted with county health officers, nurses, and physicians. Dr. Felix J. Underwood of the Mississippi State Board of Health was an early pioneer of midwifery supervision and his development of midwife club meetings and the midwife manual are used in this chapter to illustrate the state and county initiatives to improve maternal health.

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