Baby Friendly/Mother Friendly (International Perspectives on Midwifery)

Summary: BABY FRIENDLY/MOTHER FRIENDLY draws its title from the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (UNICEF, 1991). This book provides a stimulating discussion of the role of the midwife in the provision of high quality maternity care in both industrialized and developing countries. Divided into two key sections, it first explores the ways in which 'baby "friendliness' (the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding) ca...n be achieved in practice. Section 2 concentrates on the needs of the mother. The focus here is on the provision of a truly 'mother-friendly' health care environment. The risks of over-professionalization of physiological processes, and the potential of the midwife to be either an enabler or a dis-empowerer are important underlying themes in this thought-provoking book. [read more]