Comparing nutrition education of midwives in Brazil to midwives in the UK

What is it about?

There is an expectation that all midwives across the world can deliver healthy eating messages to pregnant women as part of their antenatal care. There is a shortage of midwives in Brazil with only one training course for a population of over 200 million people. However, midwives in Brazil are taught much more about nutrition compared to midwives in the UK. The nutrition content of their programme is decided and delivered by a registered nutritionist. As a result of this, midwives are much better prepared to support pregnant women about nutrition and healthy eating. They also monitor weight gain during pregnancy and are confident to intervene and offer advice if weight gain is inadequate or excessive. In the UK, midwives are taught very little about nutrition and have reported that they do not feel confident having conversations with women about healthy eating, especially if women are living with obesity.

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Photo by Josefa nDiaz on Unsplash

Photo by Josefa nDiaz on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Good nutrition during the first 1000 days of life (from conception to the child's second birthday) is the most important time for influencing health and development for the rest of an individual's life. An harm caused by poor nutrition during this period may also last a lifetime. Poor diet during pregnancy is also linked to health problems in offspring in later life, such obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke. It is very important that pregnant women are advised and supported to have a healthy diet and healthy weight gain during pregnancy. Midwives are ideal for this important role, as they are trusted and have frequent contact with women throughout their pregnancy. However, in the UK midwives receive very little training about nutrition. They report that they do not feel confident advising women about diet and weight during pregnancy, especially if women are living with obesity. Whereas women are often highly motivated during pregnancy and actively seek out information about health. They have reported disappointment about the advice they receive from midwives saying that it lacked depth and failed to meet their needs.

Perspectives