Since childbirth became a medicalized – and usually hospitalized – event a century ago, women’s and families’ psychosocial needs have been relegated to a somewhat peripheral role within the clinically focussed hierarchy of medical care. This text reinstates psychosocial issues as a primary focus of care, together with clinical excellence. Family-centred care is a familiar phrase in today’s maternity services, with professional guidelines and hospital policies including the term in their care protocols; however, few definitions, and no specific standards, for family-centred care exist. While all caregivers and care services are likely to define their care as sensitive to women’s needs, and family-centred, the actual implementation of a family-centred approach – despite it being a current fashion in care – is still inadequate. This book clearly defines family-centred perinatal care, and outlines how truly family-centred care can, and should, be implemented, and how, and where, this has been done.

Review

Book Description

Contents

۱ Executive Summary
۲ An Introduction to Family-Centred Perinatal Care
۳ Pregnancy and Birth Are Normal, Healthy Processes
۴ Care of Families after Normal Birth
۵ Care of Sick or Preterm Newborns and Their Families
۶ Clinical Care: Evidence-Based Family-Centred Care
۷ Psycho-Socially Sensitive Care
۸ Including Families in Care
۹ Inter- and Multi-Professional Care
۱۰ Culturally Appropriate Care
۱۱ Is There a ‘Universally Ideal Birth’?
۱۲ Abuse in Obstetric and Gynaecological Care
۱۳ Monitoring, Evaluation and Research
۱۴ Goals, Ethics and Rights in Family-Centred Perinatal Care
۱۵ Best Practices from Global Settings
۱۶ The Road Ahead