The Role Of Midwife In Health Advancement

The Role of Midwife in Health Advancement

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is the complete state of physical, social wellbeing, and mental of an individual and not the absence of infirmity or disease. The definition of health by WHO integrates the key model of health, this means that wellbeing and health are the result of the integration of emotional, physical, and intellectual factors. Health promotion has emerged due to the increasing realization by the society that health is one of the most valuable assets one can have. Therefore, a midwife has the key responsibility to ensure health promotion. In this case, the essay seeks to discuss the role of midwives in health promotion.

Breastfeeding is one of the paramount forms of nutrition for babies, which is an imperative topic when it comes to health promotion. However, it is equally important to understand that, health promotion is not just a role of the midwife but rather a core competence. According to Sharma (2016), the Midwifery and Nursing Council outlines the duties and responsibilities of the midwife, which include, helping people improve their health. Thus, midwives have the role of promoting and protecting the wellbeing and health of the people under their care. Health promotion can be described as a mechanism to achieve the desired state of health. Fadl, Blair, and Hassounah  (2016) suggest that heath promotion is characterized by a number of approached which include, behavioral, medical, educational, empowerment, and the societal. Therefore, it is imperative for midwives to consider this approached in order to promote the health and wellbeing of those who are under their care.

Midwives influence women and their families on a daily basis. This means that midwives can influence the way this group of people handles their health issues during childbirth and beyond. Mukhtar (2016) points out that, in every interaction, a midwife has with a woman, it creates another opportunity to promote and improve the long- term health, and this is because midwives are the most trusted figures in health promotion. For instance, midwives can advise women to breastfeed their babies to improve their health and that of the baby. Such information is positive as it will instill the feeling of accountability on the mother, this is vital as it will influence the mother to take up the responsibility of breastfeeding the baby so that it can have a good health. Therefore, it is important for midwives to pass positive information not only to women but also to the entire population in order to safeguard their health (Bowden & Manning, 2016).

In conclusion, midwives have the duty to implement positive strategies in order to promote the health and wellbeing of the people under their care. In this case, it is imperative for midwives to equip themselves with knowledge and skills necessary in health promotion like breastfeeding and women empowerment so that they can properly breastfeed their babies. Therefore, midwives should develop effective strategies that aim at improving the health of women and their children. By doing so, midwives will have succeeded in the core role of health promotion.

References

Bowden, J., & Manning, V. (Eds.). (2016). Health promotion in midwifery: principles and practice. CRC Press. 10(06). 34-78

El Fadl, R. A., Blair, M., & Hassounah, S. (2016). Integrating Maternal and Children's Oral Health Promotion into Nursing and Midwifery Practice-A Systematic Review. PloS one, 11(11), e0166760.

Mukhtar, M. (2016). Role of Nurses and other Health Care Providers in Promotion of Health In Pakistan. 10(14) 123- 180

Sharma, M. (2016). Theoretical foundations of health education and health promotion. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.3(7) 15-28