Midwives help women and families during pregnancy and birth, but
also with health needs that are not directly connected to giving birth.
This makes sense because the skills and understanding
that a midwife brings to a woman during pregnancy
and birth are also of use when a woman needs
other health care, or is having a medical
emergency. For example, a midwife who is
already skilled at stopping bleeding after a
birth can easily learn to stop bleeding after
a pregnancy has ended early.
In many places, a midwife is also the
only health worker in the community. In
these places, midwives already help
women and their families with many of
their general health care needs. The more
skills midwives gain, the better able they will be to help women who
have no other health care.
This section describes how to do a number of procedures that may
be useful in labor, or may be useful for helping women with health
needs in other parts of their lives. These procedures can be done by
most midwives in most places. But they may require careful training
and practice to do safely. Be sure to
get help from other experienced
health workers and teachers when
learning to do these procedures.
Only try the more invasive
procedures after you have been
trained, and only if you have sterile
tools. But do not be afraid to learn
these new skills. With these skills,
you will be able to improve the lives
of the women in your community.
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