Dear Susan
I cant assist you with evidence - but when we teach Advanced Midwifery Skills in South Africa - heart and lung assessment is essential for screening women antenatally with potential problems so that they can be referred to the cardiac clinic or the TB services. Midwives also need to be able to recognise equal air entry in the lungs especially at a resuscitation or on high risk neonates. I would be interested in any evidence relating to this topic. Regards Barbara Hanrahan, Johannesburg.
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Crowther [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 04 June 2013 01:29 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Heart and lund assessments by midwives
Hi All
I was wondering if anyone is doing heart and lung assessments, including history taking and auscultation as part of well women booking assessments?
We were doing this in central London in the 90s (C and W) in the teams and wondered if anyone has published or done any work on this?
I am just starting to do some work around this here in NZ and wanted some leads. UG students here at AUT uni (Auckland NZ) get taught how to do this as part of their women’s health paper that I am co-organiser for. However there is concern/resistance amongst some mws in practice about adopting this skill.
My argument is that women (in the NZ system at least) often book directly with a mw and may not see a medical practitioner including a GP for all their childbearing. This of course is great and I am not wanting in any way to diminish this approach. However there is growing asthma, TB and rheumatic fever in the population and it would seem pertinent that heart and lung checks with referrals are a skill that mws could embrace. I myself do this examination for the women I book along with other relevant WH assessmemts. I prefer to be fully aware of the woman’s health when I book her, say at 8 weeks, as she will be in my care until 6 weeks postnatal and perhaps for subsequent pregnancies. The assessment is a process of confirming all is well and able to adapt optimally to the physiological demands in the childbirth year. Women of course can choose not to be assessed!
I am happy to be corrected or challenged on this but wanted to open the dialogue.
Cheers
Susan Crowther
Senior Lecturer
AUT University, Dept of Midwifery
Room AE116H Centre for Midwifery & Women's Health Research School of Health Care Practice Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences
Tel: 09 921 9999 ext. 7558 Mobile phone: 021 229 4858 Private Bag 92006 Auckland 1020, NZ www.aut.ac.nz www.authealth.ac.nz
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