I am a midwifery educationist and researcher working in Pakistan. In my country, there are a number of midwives working at different capacities to improve maternal, neonatal and child health. Most of the women here prefer out of hospital birth conducted by a midwife, to maintain the physiological process of childbirth. The midwives work with women and their families to have a satisfying birth experience and a healthy outcome. However, they are “with-women” but; often not recognized for the services they provide to promote and preserve normality.
Therefore, I have written this poem to share the “concept of partnership” from a midwife’s perspective and discuss why and how midwives partner with mothers and families. In addition, provide awareness about the role of midwife during childbirth.
Midwives, Mothers and Families: Partners for Life
We partner to:
Promote life,
Provide insight, and
Advocate for rights.
We partner to:
Involve in care,
Remove fear, and
Let cheer.
We partner to:
Promote normality,
Maintain quality, and
Detect abnormality.
We partner to:
Ensure respect,
Avoid neglect, and
Declare connect.
We partner to:
Raise voice,
Have choice, and
Sustain rejoice.
We partner to:
Reduce intervention,
Clear misconception, and
Provide reception.
We partner to:
Express satisfaction,
Take timely actions, and
Evade rejection.
By Shahnaz Shahid, Midwifery Programme Coordinator & Senior Instructor, Aga Khan University School of Nursing & Midwifery, Pakistan