One of the greatest things that midwifery has portrayed is the ability to relieve stress. Maternity care is mostly based on communication skills, and the need for communication proficiency in this practice cannot be compromised. There are emerging trends in the nursing practice, such as emotional intelligence, which are emphasizing on communication between the patients and the midwives (Gruneberg & Crozier 2015). It is crucial for midwives to develop emotional sensitivity in order to be able to carry out their functions effectively.
Emotional intelligence is the ability of a midwife to recognize the patients’ emotions and feelings. Such feelings are expressed in very different ways from one individual to another. Therefore, it is not easy to find the best way to respond to any of the possible reactions at any given time. Communication is one of the greatest aspects of maternity care (Gruneberg & Crozier, 2015). Therefore, every piece of information given by both the midwife and the patient is important.
In addition, communication skills in these practices are very important because of the exchange of information in maternity care affects the decision making process. A slight mistake in the presentation of information can be fatal (Phillips 2014). Therefore, midwives are responsible for sharing accurate and appropriate information in order to influence good judgement and proper decision making (Phillips 2014). Communication is crucial because it helps the midwives to decide when it is appropriate to consult/ transfer the care of a pregnant woman to a relevant medical practitioner.
When a midwife is able to communicate with the patient, she gets to understand the woman’s feelings. This enables the midwife to find the appropriate level of care that the patient requires. This is very crucial because it avoids a number of calamities. Communication also helps the midwife to know when medical care and advanced medical attention are required. If midwives are not proficient in their communication skills, a lot of problems can arise and compromise the quality of midwifery services.
Through their communication skills, midwives are able to relieve the level of stress by informing the patient of the possible risks or the need for advanced medical care. However, they need to be cautious when relaying such information to their patients (Clarke & Carr 2014). A delivering woman is more comfortable with her situation when she knows exactly what is happening around her. When there is a risk that the mother is facing, it should be discussed as soon as possible in order to prepare her emotionally.
Nonetheless, this must be done in the most polite way possible to reduce any instance of panic for the mother. Communication skills can be very important in this case because the way information is relayed to the patient determines her attitude and, ultimately, her ability to have a safe delivery. Midwives and medical caregivers, in general, are supposed to be good in communication due to their interactive line of duty (Velo & Smedley 2014).
Midwives interact with a lot of women in the delivery rooms and their ability or inability to communicate with their patients is a matter of life and death. In addition, communication in this practice is crucial because it involves the safety of two indiviauls at the same time, the mother and the child (Gardner 2014). As a matter of fact, these two lives are interdependent. If the mother is negatively affected in the process, the child’s life is also at risk. Therefore, communication skills are life saving in the midwiferey profession.
References
Clarke, P & Carr, N 2014’, ‘Born before arrival: Supervision in action’, British Journal of Midwifery, vol. 22, no. 12, pp. 889-893.
Gardner, S 2014, ‘Communication is a two-way street’, British Journal of Midwifery, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 308-309.
Gruneberg, F & Crozier, K 2015, ‘Delayed cord clamping in the compromised baby’, British Journal of Midwifery, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 102-108.
Phillips, K 2014, ‘Is the evidence on waterbirth watertight?’, British Journal of Midwifery, vol. 22. No. 11, pp. 776-780.
Velo, K & Smedley, A 2014, ‘Using reflection to enhance the teaching and learning of midwifery students’, British Journal of Midwifery, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 129-133.