In your own words

Throughout my time at university we've always been told that communication is number one in maternity care. The use of verbal and non-verbal communication can help build a trusting relationship between the midwife and mother.  

Initially, during the booking appointment and antenatal period, midwives use communication to build up trust and rapport, and allow the woman to become comfortable answering questions surrounding her medical history and mental health.

In labour and birth we use non-verbal communication to establish whether the labouring woman is transitioning, involuntary pushing or even needing further verbal support.

Eye contact, mirroring, body language and even simple gestures such as nodding or smiling are all important when building and maintaining a trusting relationship especially in a situation whether the woman's verbal communication may be inhibited by use of entonox or strength of contraction. 

In midwifery education and discussion language is so much more important. Language used focuses more on what we are actually saying and the effect certain words have upon others feelings, perspective and understanding of a situation.

Many midwives actively loathe the word 'deliver' when discussing the birth of a child and much prefer 'catching' or 'birth'. For me I agree, childbirth is such a wonderful moment we should not be using language which assumes we are removing the empowerment and experience from the woman. 

But what about other words used in day to day midwifery discussion?

I recently wrote a post about resilience in maternity care this got some backlash due to the choice of the word 'resilience'. I still believe that I used the word which correctly fitted with my view of the midwives I experienced on labour ward that day - it was resilience.

But how can we communicate this to other midwives and student midwives without using controversial language? This is where we must understand that sometimes the use of terms can cause criticism, and be open to this. 

Other words I constantly see used in maternity care and believe that they do not belong include allow, fear, risk and failure. 

Allow denotes that we, as midwives, are letting a woman feel the way she does, do the things she needs to do, and have the baby on our terms. We should be following the woman. She should allow us into her space.

Fear. I never use the question 'what are you afraid of?' when a woman looks concerned. I ask them how they feel, and if the answer is 'fear' I use reassurance. Birth should not be feared. It should be celebrated.

Risk. Using the term 'risk' instantly increases the 'risk' or as I prefer to term it challenges or approach to maternity care. If you are supposed to be undertaking women-centred individualised care then why are we putting women into groups based on 'risk'? Not every woman with a high BMI/ Diabetes/ Previous C-section is a risk, so why are we labelling these women? 

Failure. What a horrible word to be told. You've 'failed to progress' or a 'failed forceps'. This makes the woman feel it was her fault. We need to use a better term to communicate that there may be need for an intervention and not just because of 'failure'.

But how can we change an established language culture which has been influenced by medical times over the years?

By educating. 

Using these new terms or preferred terms in placement, clinical practice and university can help build a new generation of student midwives whose usage of language is primarily based on physiological birth.

What are your thoughts. Leave your comments below or tweet me @ruth_stmw

Ruth x

twitter: @ruth_stmw