Family-Centred Perinatal Care: Improving Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum Care

Since childbirth became a medicalized - and usually hospitalized - event a century ago, women's and families' psychosocial needs have been relegated to a somewhat peripheral role within the clinically focussed hierarchy of medical care. This text reinstates psychosocial issues as a primary focus of care, together with clinical excellence. Family-centred care is a familiar phrase in today's maternity services, with professional guidelines and hospital policies including the term in their care protocols; however, few definitions, and no specific standards, for family-centred care exist. While all caregivers and care services are likely to define their care as sensitive to women's needs, and family-centred, the actual implementation of a family-centred approach - despite it being a current fashion in care - is still inadequate. This book clearly defines family-centred perinatal care, and outlines how truly family-centred care can, and should, be implemented, and how, and where, this has been done.

Author: Beverley Chalmers
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 04/03/2017
Pages: 236
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.78lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.22w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781316627952

About the Author
Chalmers, Beverley: - Beverley Chalmers DSc (Med), PhD, is a perinatal health consultant in Kingston, Ontario.