What is it about?
This paper asks antenatal clinic midwives about their experiences giving healthy eating and healthy weight management advice to pregnant women in Liverpool and Derry (Northern Ireland). It reveals that midwives lack confidence and in-depth knowledge and so struggle to support women regarding these areas. Furthermore, a lack of UK clinical guidelines regarding optimal weight gain in pregnancy adds to the problem, as does the tendency to 'normalise' obesity (as it now seen in clinic so frequently).
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Why is it important?
NICE (2010) states that all pregnant women should receive healthy eating advice from midwives during their booking-in appointment. Poor diet and obesity are both associated with complications and poor pregnancy outcomes.
Perspectives
Midwives need training and support to improve access up-to-date, pregnancy specific nutrition information, to allow them to better support pregnant women.
julie ABAYOMI
Liverpool John Moores University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A qualitative study exploring midwives' perceptions and knowledge of maternal obesity: Reflecting on their experiences of providing healthy eating and weight management advice to pregnant women, Maternal and Child Nutrition, September 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/mcn.12520.
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