Chapter 24: Getting medical help
In a health system that works well, midwives and doctors work together.
• When a midwife brings a woman to a medical center in an emergency,
she should be able to stay with the woman throughout the birth. This will
make the woman more willing to get medical help in an emergency, because
she will feel more safe and calm. It also will allow the midwife to learn by
watching how the medical center treats emergencies.
• Midwives, doctors, and other health workers should talk to each other about
the common health problems in the community, and about how each of
them can work to solve those problems.
• Midwives should be able to ask doctors medical questions, and doctors
should freely answer them. Doctors and medical centers can provide training
and equipment to midwives.
If a woman is
bleeding, you should
send her here to the
hospital.
In an emergency,
there isn’t always
enough time. We
need oxytocin to
stop the bleeding
after a birth.
If we train midwives
to use oxytocin
safely — I think this
is a good idea.
And maybe we can
work together to
prevent the
anemia so many
women have.
At the medical center
Medical centers and hospitals have their own rules and procedures. These will feel
unfamiliar until you have experience with them.
If you are able to come to the medical center with a woman who is having a
health problem, you can learn about these procedures and skills and explain them
to the woman and her family. Perhaps you can even help change procedures that
are not necessary.
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A Book for Midwives (2010)