Abenfo

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Frances Day-Stirk Director Learning Research
Practice Development International Office

• Abenfo Rio de Janerio
• November 2009

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Campaign aims

• 1. Lead thinking, communication, education,
  research, policy/political influence and practice
  in relation to normal birth
• 2. Inspire and support normal birth practice of
  members with a portfolio of new services and
  activities
• 3. Build an evidence and experience base for
  normal birth practice

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Why?

• Bring normal birth practice to the top of the
  agenda
• Provide useful resources, inspiration and support
  to midwives and women
• Encourage personal and professional development,
  and job satisfaction
• Connect with public awareness campaigns NCT and
  others

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Campaign identity

• Revolves around a series of characters that
  embrace midwives in all their diversity
• Shows real midwives addressing together the big
  issues through conversation and thought
• Uses humour to tackle tough subjects
• Uses stories to engage emotions, and to highlight
  the themes that can make normal birth happen
• Reflects a bright, up-beat mood

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Campaign themes

• The world is changing experiences, needs and
  expectations of women as consumers must be
  recognised
• The biggest challenge is building confidence
• Normal birth sells itself we only need to be
  reminded
• Evidence is important but only in context our
  hearts have to be in this as well as our minds
• Change can only happen if enough people really
  want it there are barriers attitudes,
  practices, organisation
• Communication skills are key talking with women
  and each other. Need to move away from
  polarisation
• Stories get people talking raise the big issues,
  particularly the emotional ones, and stimulate
  thinking

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How the themes fit together
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Words of midwives
Voices of midwives
Characters of midwives
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• Norma
• Olive
• Rachel
• Myriam
• Alice
• Lianne
• http//www.rcmnormalbirth.org.uk/default.asp?sID1
  

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Ten Top Tips

• Together, we can change the way child birth
  happens.
• inspire and support normal birth practice
• remember that good birth experiences can happen
  despite the challenges.
• intervention and caesarean shouldnt be shouldnt
  be the first choice they should be the last.
• a policy of maximising normal birth in the
  context of maternal choice is safe
• offers short and long term health and social
  benefits to mothers, children, families and
  communities
• Such a policy is more likely to succeed if
  childbirth is placed within a social and family
  context.
• httpwww.rcmnormalbirth.org.uk

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Ten Top Tips

• Wait and See
• Build Her Nest
• Get her off the bed
• Justify intervention
• Listen to her
• Keep a diary
• Trust your intuition
• Be a role model
• Give constant positive reassurance
• Birth to abdomen- skin to skin

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Acknowledgements

• RCM would like to thank all the mothers and
  babies,
• midwives and photographers, who provided images
  for this
• presentation.
• Nancy Durrell McKenna Photographer
• Helen Shallow Consultant Midwife, Calderdale and
• Huddersfield NHS Foundation
• Sheena Byrom Consultant Midwide, Royal Blackburn
• Hospital
• Margaret Hill Home Birth Midwife, North Middlesex
• University Hospital NHS Trust
• UNICEF Maharashtra and BPNI Maharashtra

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The Campaign asks people to sign up to

• that a majority of women are able to give birth
  normally
• that normal birth offers the greatest benefits to
  women and babies, where it is achievable and
  appropriate
• that a policy of maximising the number of normal
  births is safe and socially desirable
• that midwives, as expert professionals in normal
  birth, are best placed to provide care and
  support to women giving birth normally
• that unless midwives skill and expertise in
  normal birth is properly valued and used the
  skills and expertise will be lost.

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Why start with midwives?

• You must be the change you wish to see in the
  world
• Ghandi
• If you want to make the place a better place take
  a look at yourself and make a change
• Michael Jackson (Man in the mirror)

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The vision

• Midwives interested and confident to practice and
  support normal birth
• Improved birth experiences for women and midwives
• Increased rates of normal birth

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• Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful,
  committed citizens can change the world. It is
  the only thing that ever has.
• Margaret Mead

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RCM welcomes ABENFO