Speaker: Jessica Brumley
Facilitator: Caitlin Goodwin
Midwifery has played a critical role in maternal and newborn care throughout our history, yet its integration into the healthcare system has been marked by challenges and transformation. This presentation explores the historical trajectory of midwifery. The current landscape highlights a growing recognition of midwifery’s benefits, including improved maternal outcomes, reduced interventions, and enhanced patient-centered care. Despite this progress, barriers such as restrictive regulations, inconsistent legislative policies, and disparities in access persist.
Looking ahead, the future of midwifery integration depends on policy reform, interprofessional collaboration, and public awareness to strengthen midwives’ role in addressing the maternal health crisis. A strong professional association is critical in advancing the midwifery agenda and strengthening the profession.
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Speakers: Seda Serhatlioglu and Tuba Kizilkaya
Facilitator: Farah Sajidah
Abstract:
Health literacy is defined as the ability to access, understand, and use health information to make informed health-related decisions, while health perception refers to individual’s evaluations of their own health status.This study examines the relationship between health literacy and health perception among 353 midwifery students in Turkey, conducted between January 2023 and March 2024. Data were collected using the Student Information Form, Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32), and Health Perception Scale (HPS). Statistical analyses, including Mann-Whitney U, Spearman’s rho correlation, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, were performed. The results highlight significant correlations between health literacy and health perception, emphasizing the importance of improving health literacy to enhance health perceptions and outcomes among future midwives. The findings show that most participants have adequate health literacy and positive health perception. It was found that factors such as internet usage and the desire to read written materials had significant effects on health literacy and health perception (p 0.05). These findings suggest that increasing the health literacy levels of midwifery students can contribute to better health outcomes in the populations they will serve. The study underscores the importance of targeted health education strategies in midwifery curricula to strengthen both health literacy and health perception.
Speaker: Jamie Hanson
Facilitator: Celine Lemay
Non-access to Perinatal mental health services for Black African Women can lead to increased perinatal morbidity and mortality in relation to mental health. Three quarters of Black and Brown Women’s morbidity is associated with suicide in the postnatal period, and they are more likely to experience adverse outcomes during pregnancy and the postnatal period compared to white women (MBRRACE, 2023). Health inequalities within maternity services also increase the risk of mental health challenges which is exacerbated by unemployment, poverty and homelessness which adds to the challenges of the women accessing perinatal mental health services (Rothman et al, 2020). There is also the associated stigma within the Black African community in declaring mental health challenges and it being viewed as ‘shameful’ and embarrassing to admit to feeling depression leading to alienation and preventing the women form seeking help from health professionals (Watson et al, 2019). The reluctance to access support is also compounded by negative experiences from health professionals and engagement with primary care (Edge and Mackian, 2010). What we don’t know is how the women can be supported in accessing services and what is required to be on place. The contribution to knowledge is exploring and describing attitudes to perinatal mental health, listening to the women’s voices and understanding the service and how it can be improved. Methods An Exploratory Descriptive Qualitative (EDQ) study design was employed which allows for a social constructivist and interpretivist approach (Reid and Happell, 2012).
