Supporting Women for Labour and Birth

This new edition provides an up-to-date and thoughtful guide to supporting women in labour, looking at a range of techniques and approaches that promote a safe and positive experience of birth for women and their families.

Across the world, support in labour has been shown to reduce obstetric interventions and improve outcomes for women and babies. Written by two highly experienced midwifery authors, this text draws on a wide range of cutting-edge research on this topic, identifying how the evidence can be applied to everyday practice. Narratives from women and practitioners, including midwives, doulas, childbirth educators and students, are used to illustrate a range of situations where the quality of support is central to the quality of the experience and outcome.

Supporting Women for Labour and Birth encourages readers to reflect on their experiences and examine the evidence provided by both research and experiences of women and practitioners in order to explore how this could be incorporated into their practice. The only book to deal directly with the practical and emotional issues associated with labour support, this is an ideal text for student midwives and an important reference for practising midwives, doulas and other childbirth practitioners.

About the Authors

Nicky Leap is an Adjunct Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney, and at the Molly Wardaguga Research Centre, Charles Darwin University, Alice Springs. Nicky divides her time between living in Bristol (UK) and the Blue Mountains (Australia).

Billie Hunter is Professor of Midwifery at Cardiff University, UK and is an Adjunct Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Billie is also the Director of a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Midwifery Development at Cardiff University, which contributes to global efforts to strengthen midwifery and midwifery education.