Family-Centred Perinatal Care. Improving Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum Care

Description

Since childbirth became a medicalized - and usually hospitalized - event a century ago, women's and families' psychosocial needs have been relegated to a somewhat peripheral role within the clinically focussed hierarchy of medical care. This text reinstates psychosocial issues as a primary focus of care, together with clinical excellence. Family-centred care is a familiar phrase in today's maternity services, with professional guidelines and hospital policies including the term in their care protocols; however, few definitions, and no specific standards, for family-centredcare exist. While all caregivers and care services are likely to define their care as sensitive to women's needs, and family-centred, the actual implementation of a family-centred approach - despite it being a current fashion in care - is still inadequate. This book clearly defines family-centredperinatal care, and outlines how truly family-centred care can, and should, be implemented, and how, and where, this has been done.

• The first book to address a family-centred approach to perinatal care, providing a guide for caregivers, institutions and professional bodies dealing with perinatal care

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  Integrates the roles of mothers, fathers and newborns with those of multiple caregivers involved in perinatal care, such as obstetricians, paediatricians, midwives, nurses, psychologists, childbirth educators, physiotherapists, social workers, and academic and professional bodies, as well as with extended family members and community agencies

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  Includes up-to-date and evidence-based research supporting a family-centred approach, and illustrates the text with anecdotes based on over forty years of experience applying a family-centred approach to clinical perinatal care

Contents

Dedication
Table of contents
Foreword
Preface
Executive summary
An introduction to family-centred perinatal care
Part I. From Pregnancy to Parenthood:
1. Pregnancy and birth are normal, healthy processes
2. Care of families after normal birth
3. Care of sick or preterm newborns and their families
Part II. Practicing Family-Centred Care:
4. Clinical care: evidence-based family-centred care
5. Psycho-socially sensitive care
6. Including families in care
7. Inter- and multi-professional care
8. Culturally appropriate care
9. Is there a 'universally ideal birth'?
Part III. Meeting Professional Standards:
10. Abuse in obstetric and gynaecological care
11. Monitoring, evaluation and research
12. Goals, ethics and rights in family-centred perinatal care
Part IV. An Unfinished Agenda:
13. Best practices from global settings
14. The road ahead
Appendix: family-centred care monitoring questions
Notes
Index. 

Author

Beverley Chalmers, University of Ottawa
Beverley Chalmers DSc (Med), PhD, is a perinatal health consultant in Kingston, Ontario.