Promote the change of midwifery role and highlight the autonomy of the profession

The beginning of May is associated with the fact that everything in nature seems to be reborn – it sprouts, matures, flourishes, blooms and the long-awaited joy comes. Therefore, this is also a significant time when, on May 5, the representatives of the profession celebrate their professional holiday, who are by their side in waiting for a new life and witness the birth of a child. They are midwives.

The standard of the midwifery profession states that a midwife is a medical practitioner who, in accordance with the competence and principles of comprehensive care defined in the laws and regulations, provides person-centered care, participates in medical treatment, organizes and manages pregnancy, childbirth and takes care of a woman in the postpartum period, cares for newborns and infants , incl. promotion of breastfeeding, participates in the maintenance of women’s reproductive health, advises on family planning issues.

However, the role of the midwife is much more important today than any document can formally regulate. It has changed over time, allowing women to have increasingly positive experiences. Especially if the midwife has managed to provide the woman with emotional support, help overcome anxiety, create open and positive communication already during the waiting period for the baby.

“On International Midwives’ Day, I say thank you to every midwife working in Latvia for their selfless work! On this day of our professional holiday, I wish all of us endurance, patience, determination and courage, fighting for our profession and the well-being and health of our patients!” for the representatives of her profession, LVA president Linda Veidemane.

The midwife of Kuldīga Hospital, Linda Jūrmale, who together with Dr. Ivetu Bāliņu works in the ambulatory reception of pregnant women, believes that nowadays one-sided and medicalized care of pregnant women is no longer enough, when only the medical parameters of the pregnant woman are evaluated, e.g. measuring, weighing, analyzes and listening to the baby’s heartbeat. It is important that the emotional and mental state of the pregnant woman is also noticed and taken into account. Encouraging to think about issues related to childbirth and the postpartum period, a woman is purposefully prepared for childbirth. Comprehensive information is provided, ensuring respectful care for both the woman, the expectant child, and the husband.

“Giving birth is not just one event in life, one little thing in life. It is, however, an experience with which a woman lives for the rest of her life. I want pregnant women to experience high-quality and modern care, which has a positive effect on how a woman feels both while expecting a baby and after it,” says midwife Linda Jūrmale.

Continuing on the importance of the midwifery profession, L. Jūrmale has observed that recently there has been a noticeable progress in matters of the autonomy of the midwifery profession. “For many people, the profession of midwife is associated only with the person who holds the baby, not realizing that the competence of a midwife is much broader. Midwives can be the ones who independently provide high-quality health care services for women of reproductive age, e.g. provide advice on contraception, perform preventive examinations, monitor pregnant women, provide support during the postpartum period, however, currently in Latvia these competencies are not fully used, “says the midwife.

Promoting the change of the midwife’s role and highlighting the autonomy of the profession is one of the priorities of the Latvian Association of Midwives. “At the moment, our priority is improving midwives’ competencies and qualifications, through which we try to popularize and raise the prestige of the midwifery profession as a whole. By arranging a number of systemic issues at the national level, we want to achieve that the midwifery profession is practically recognized as an autonomous profession that plays a key role in the care of pregnant women, childbirth, and postpartum. This is already happening elsewhere in the world and we hope to gradually introduce it in Latvia as well. Several steps have already been taken, as a result of which midwives are entitled to issue referrals themselves and open a work incapacity page,” says Linda Veidemane, president of the Association of Latvian Midwives.

She admits that a big challenge for strengthening the role of midwives in Latvia is precisely postpartum care, where emphasis should be placed on the psycho-emotional support of women.