A birth attendant, also known as skilled birth attendant, is a

health professional A health professional, healthcare professional (HCP), or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated as HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a Nursing, nur ...

who provides basic and emergency care to women and their newborns during

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...

and the

postpartum period The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to last for six to eight weeks. There are three distinct phases of the postnatal period; the acute phase, lasting for six to twelve hours after birth; the ...

. A birth attendant, who may be a

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

, or

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

, is trained to be present at ("attend") childbirth, whether the delivery takes place in a health care institution or at home, to recognize and respond appropriately to medical complications, and to implement interventions to help prevent them in the first place, including through

prenatal care Prenatal care, also known as antenatal care, is a type of preventive healthcare for pregnant individuals. It is provided in the form of medical checkups and healthy lifestyle recommendations for the pregnant person. Antenatal care also consists of ...

. Different birth attendants are able to provide different levels of care.

Types of midwives

There are five different types of midwives. There is a certified nurse-midwife who must obtain a high level of education, either bachelors or masters in midwifery, after becoming a nurse. Nurse-midwives can serve in most birthing centers, hospitals, and can have a private home birth practice. Then there is a Certified Professional Midwife. This midwife can obtain a license by following an apprenticeship/internship style of learning, along with other certifications. She must pass a board exam through states/countries that allow for this license and can only be available in a home birth setting. There are Direct Entry Midwives. These midwives are trained through an apprenticeship/internship process and are only allowed in home birth settings as well. They do not hold a professional license but rather serve as lay midwives wherever they are needed. The next type is a traditional midwife. This midwife often has cultural and community based trainings that are passed down through generations. Depending on the location, they can either be formally certified and licensed or not. The final type of midwife is a lay midwife. A lay midwife are individuals that have learned midwifery through an apprenticeship or a self-directed study rather than a formal training. They are able to provide care and deliver babies outside of a medical setting.

Birth attendant versus birth assistant

A distinction must be made between "birth attendant" and others who may provide support and care during pregnancy and childbirth, based on professional training and skills, practice regulations, as well as nature of care delivered. Birth attendants are typically trained to perform clinical functions for basic and emergency obstetric and neonatal care, including administration of

parenteral In pharmacology and toxicology, a route of administration is the way by which a drug, fluid, poison, or other substance is taken into the body. Routes of administration are generally classified by the location at which the substance is applied. ...

antibiotics, oxytocics and anticonvulsants; manual removal of

placenta The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas, and waste exchange between ...

; removal of retained products of placenta; assisted

vaginal delivery In mammals and other animals, the vagina (: vaginas or vaginae) is the elastic, muscular sex organ, reproductive organ of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vulval vestibule to the cervix (neck of the uterus). The #Vag ...

; and newborn resuscitation.Gupta N et al
Human resources for maternal, newborn and child health: from measurement and planning to performance for improved health outcomes.
''Human Resources for Health'' 2011, 9:16 Depending on the legal

scope of practice Scope of practice describes the activities and duties that a healthcare professional is permitted to undertake. The limits on the actions of these practitioners are set by the terms of their professional license and what the law allows. Each juris ...

, this may also include performing cesarean sections. A birth assistant, also known as a doula, "birth worker", "labor support person", "labour coach", or "childbirth educator", is someone other than the above who provides emotional support and general care and advice to women and families during pregnancy and childbirth.World Health Organization. 2010. ''Classifying health workers''. http://www.who.int/hrh/statistics/Health_workers_classification.pdf A doula usually offers support services to the family in the weeks following the birth ("postpartum doula", see Postpartum confinement) and may also assist during labor and childbirth ("birth doula"). In many developing countries, a

traditional birth attendant A traditional birth attendant (TBA), also known as a traditional midwife, community midwife or lay midwife, is a pregnancy and childbirth care provider. Traditional birth attendants provide the majority of primary maternity care in many develop ...

, also known as a traditional midwife, is a person who provide basic pregnancy and birthing care and advice based primarily on experience and knowledge acquired informally through the traditions and practices of the communities where they originated. They usually have no modern health care training and are not typically subject to professional regulation.

References

External links

World Health Organization: ''Making Pregnancy Safer''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birth Attendant Obstetrics Midwifery

Types of midwives

Birth attendant versus birth assistant

See also

References

External links