Midwife

The word midwife comes from the French accoucher, meaning help during childbirth.

Midwife is an employee of a maternity hospital or a women's clinic with a secondary medical education. The main duties of this specialist extend to obstetric care, home monitoring of pregnancy and mothers with a newborn, training skills to care for the baby.

When should I go to a midwife?

Midwife is the only specialist whose education is aimed at caring for motherhood.

Early pregnancy is an occasion when you should contact a midwife. Establish pathologies during pregnancy and promptly send the patient to the doctor midwife the following symptoms help: 

• state of nausea; 
• the appearance of vomiting; 
• decrease in body weight; 
• bleeding during pregnancy; 
• itching; 
• icterus of the skin of the skin; 
• manifestations of infectious diseases (rubella, toxoplasmosis, etc.); 
• infectious diseases transmitted by means of sexual contact.

What tests should I take when I contact a midwife?

In addition to a general blood test and the establishment of a group, what tests do you need to take when you contact a midwife? To the list are added studies on blood sugar, the definition of coagulability and possible diseases (eg, AIDS).

Based on the results of a general urine test, the midwife makes a conclusion about the work of the kidneys and possible pathological conditions. Analysis of the smear of the flora of the vagina and cervix helps to eliminate candidiasis, gonorrhea, chlamydia and cancer. Laboratory tests are also conducted for the presence of helminthic invasions.

The revealed problems are subject to immediate treatment, so as not to harm the child's health.

Determine the most dangerous for the baby diseases can be due to prenatal diagnosis, consisting in a comprehensive prenatal survey. These techniques show the development of Down's syndrome, heart disorders and other serious diseases.

What methods of diagnostics does the midwife use?

The midwife's task is to collect an anamnesis of pregnancy: 

• family illnesses (alcoholism, mental disorders, etc.); 
• transferred diseases of the most pregnant during life, especially infectious or rickets; 
• characteristics of the monthly cycle; 
• information on previous pregnancies / births, if any, as well as abortions, miscarriages, bleeding, surgical interventions, etc .; 
• state of health of a woman's spouse.

Primary examination consists in determining the type of physique, the nature of nutrition, the condition of the skin, attention is drawn to the shape of the abdomen and lumbosacral rhombus. The obstetrician records the weight, height, external values of the pelvis, abdominal circumference, uterine characteristics, fetal position.

In the second part of pregnancy, the number of baby's heartbeats is fixed, strokes from the nose and throat are taken for the presence of staphylococci. The midwife monitors the pressure of the future mother.

In addition to external signs and laboratory studies, what methods of diagnosis does the midwife use? The main assistant in monitoring the course of pregnancy and establishing the sex of the child is ultrasound. Ultrasound diagnosis is indispensable in cases of determining the timing of pregnancy, if a woman has a menstrual irregularity.

For various complications (for example, the threat of miscarriage), the detection of serious illnesses (heart, liver, kidneys, etc.), the wrong position of the fetus, the midwife immediately directs the midwife to the doctor.

What does a midwife do?

A midwife can be called a nurse, a pediatrician and even a personal psychologist. Providing women's health at any age, she observes the development of girls, from kindergarten to adulthood. Obstetricians work with women, explaining the basics of personal hygiene, preventive measures to prevent unwanted pregnancies, venereal diseases, teach to identify gynecological problems (breast cancer, ectopic pregnancy, etc.).

Obligations of the midwife are as follows: 

• treatment-and-prophylactic and therapeutic-diagnostic methods, as well as providing qualified care to patients;
• is responsible for the preparation of the workplace of a gynecologist; 
• independently or with a doctor, provides medical care, performs primary treatment of newborns, or takes urgent resuscitation; 
• is an assistant in surgical intervention; 
• observes the full development of children in the first year of life, gives recommendations; 
• visits pregnant women, young mothers and gynecological patients at home; 
• deals with the coverage of family planning issues, carries out preventive examinations to detect gynecological disorders; 
• provides emergency care in cases of acute illness and unforeseen situations with pregnant women.

What kind of diseases does the midwife treat?

Obstetrics requires people to be quick, responsible, accurate on the verge of pedantry, ability to respond adequately in the most unexpected circumstances. Midwife should have important human qualities, like empathy, kindness and responsiveness, be able to listen. All this helps people of this field of activity to provide qualified assistance and to identify gynecological pathologies in the process of the birth of a new life.

What kind of diseases does the midwife treat? Medical workers in the field of obstetrics monitor the condition of the reproductive system of a woman, discovering: 

• symptoms of the onset of pathological bleeding; 
• eclampsia - a morbid condition of pregnant women, under which pressure is increased by so much that it can become a threat to mother and child; 
• infection of the urinary system; 
• disease of gestational diabetes mellitus - disruptions in carbohydrate metabolism, which are first detected during pregnancy; 
• autoimmune diseases; 
• birth and postpartum complications.

Tips for a midwife

A comprehensive examination of the organism of future parents and the necessary treatment before conception of the child is a necessary condition for ensuring the health of the future baby.

The advice of a midwife physician refers to conducting tests that identify the indicators of women's health, which affect the favorable development of pregnancy. First of all, timely detection of hidden infections. Vaccination from rubella is also considered appropriate.

Obstetricians are engaged in psychological preparation for pregnancy and childbirth. It is important for the future mother not only to "tidy up" her body, but also to be morally tune in to the most important period in her life. To do this, you need to make more walks, exercise, pay attention to the diet, be harmonious and cheerful. The woman's spiritual state, her energy connection with the child, helps the midwife herself, who is guided by the female sensations in the process of giving birth.

Midwife is more a vocation than a profession. A midwife woman must herself have at least three children to provide qualified assistance in childbirth. Since ancient times, midwives have passed their knowledge and tribal rites from generation to generation. Today, the age-old experience has been supplemented with the latest medical technologies, which make everything possible for the continuation of life on Earth.