A birth attendant, also known as skilled birth attendant, is a
health professional
A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (suc ...
who provides basic and emergency care to women and their newborns during
pregnancy
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ...
,
childbirth
Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies exits the internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million births glob ...
and the
postpartum period
The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to end within 6 weeks as the mother's body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state. The terms puerperium, puerperal peri ...
. A birth attendant, who may be a
midwife
A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; ...
,
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
obstetrician
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgic ...
, or
nurse
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
, is trained to be present at ("attend") childbirth, whether the delivery takes place in a
health care institution or
at home, to recognize and respond appropriately to
medical complications, and to implement interventions to help prevent them in the first place, including through
prenatal care
Prenatal care, also known as antenatal care, is a type of preventive healthcare. It is provided in the form of medical checkups, consisting of recommendations on managing a healthy lifestyle and the provision of medical information such as materna ...
. Different birth attendants are able to provide different levels of care.
Types of midwives
There are three different types of midwives. There is a nurse-midwife who must obtain a high level of education, either bachelors or masters in midwifery, after becoming a nurse. Nurse-midwives can serve in most birthing centers, hospitals, and can have a private home birth practice.
Then there is a Certified Professional Midwife. This midwife can obtain a license by following an apprenticeship/internship style of learning, along with other certifications. She must pass a board exam through states/countries that allow for this license and can only be available in a home birth setting.
Lastly there are Direct Entry Midwives. These midwives are trained through an apprenticeship/internship process and are only allowed in home birth settings as well. They do not hold a professional license but rather serve as lay midwives wherever they are needed.
Birth attendant versus birth assistant
A distinction must be made between "birth attendant" and others who may provide support and care during pregnancy and childbirth, based on professional training and skills,
practice regulations, as well as nature of care delivered. Birth attendants are typically trained to perform clinical functions for basic and emergency obstetric and neonatal care, including administration of
parenteral
A route of administration in pharmacology and toxicology is the way by which a drug, fluid, poison, or other substance is taken into the body.
Routes of administration are generally classified by the location at which the substance is applied. ...
antibiotics,
oxytocic
A uterotonic, also known as ecbolic, are pharmacological agents used to induce contraction or greater tonicity of the uterus. Uterotonics are used both to induce labor and to reduce postpartum hemorrhage.
Labor induction in the third trimester of ...
s and anticonvulsants; manual removal of
placenta
The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mate ...
; removal of retained products of placenta; assisted
vaginal delivery; and newborn resuscitation.
[Gupta N et al]
Human resources for maternal, newborn and child health: from measurement and planning to performance for improved health outcomes.
''Human Resources for Health'' 2011, 9:16 Depending on the legal
scope of practice
Scope of practice describes the procedures, actions, and processes that a healthcare practitioner is permitted to undertake in keeping with the terms of their professional license. The scope of practice is limited to that which the law allows for ...
, this may also include performing
cesarean section
Caesarean section, also known as C-section or caesarean delivery, is the surgical procedure by which one or more babies are delivered through an incision in the mother's abdomen, often performed because vaginal delivery would put the baby or ...
s.
A birth assistant, also known as a
doula
A doula () is a trained professional who provides expert guidance for the service of others and who supports another person (the doula's client) through a significant health-related experience, such as childbirth, miscarriage, induced abortion or ...
, "birth worker", "labor support person", "labour coach", or "childbirth educator", is someone other than the above who provides emotional support and general care and advice to women and families during pregnancy and childbirth.
[World Health Organization. 2010. ''Classifying health workers''. http://www.who.int/hrh/statistics/Health_workers_classification.pdf] A doula usually offers support services to the family in the weeks following the birth ("postpartum doula", see
Postpartum confinement
Postpartum confinement is a traditional practice following childbirth. Those who follow these customs typically begin immediately after the birth, and the seclusion or special treatment lasts for a culturally variable length: typically for one mo ...
) and may also assist during labor and childbirth ("birth doula").
In many developing countries, a
traditional birth attendant, also known as a traditional midwife, is a person who provide basic pregnancy and birthing care and advice based primarily on experience and knowledge acquired informally through the traditions and practices of the communities where they originated.
They usually have no modern health care training and are not typically subject to professional regulation.
See also
*
Maternal health
Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. In most cases, maternal health encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care in order to ens ...
*
Reproductive health
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, healthcare, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual wellbeing during all stages of their life.
The term can also be further de ...
References
External links
World Health Organization: ''Making Pregnancy Safer''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birth Attendant
Obstetrics
Midwifery