Global Action to Support Normal Birth Summary of exchanges – Midwifery-research network (Oct-Nov 2018)

Prepared by: Dr Sophie Goyet
Reviewed by: Dr Maria Healy
21 February 2019

In October and November 2018, a discussion happened among the members of the Midwifery-research network around the need to elaborate an action to support normal birth in the UK and globally. In preparation of a meeting, which will be organised as a side-event to the conference, we have summarized this online discussion.

Genesis of the idea
On 29 October, Lesley Page observed that the midwifery profession in UK was ‘at a critical point’, with ‘much progress over recent decades, progressive government policy, but huge difficulty in implementing it into the NHS in England’. She also noted that ‘interventions rates are rising and free standing midwifery units closing to move staff to centralised services’. Luci Rocca, on the same day, added that, to her, ‘midwives’ autonomy [was] being at risk in the current climate’.

On 30th October, Alison Macfarlane circulated documents showing that ‘England Childbirth is changing in a nonevidence based direction’. She commented that, with the number of spontaneous births decreasing, there was a risk to see midwives being replaced by obstetric nurses. She pointed out that it was ‘very hard to understand whythe large body of evidence supporting midwifery care and the midwifery model of birth has failed to alter this trend.’

On 31st October 2018 Alison underlined: ‘We have a choice between letting it happen and become obstetric nurse assistants to obstetricians or to take some action’. Sheena Byrom (7 Nov.) added that in the UK, midwives are criticized regarding their language and are ‘no more allowed to use the term ‘normal birth’.

Replying to these exchanges, Gillian Meldrum called for the creation of ‘an international & national normal birth strategy with a co-ordinating body’ on Nov 1st.

Need for a Global Action to Support Normal Birth
Gillian’s call was echoed by several networkers. Susan Crowther (8 Nov) wrote that a global reach initiative was needed ‘to reclaim the term ‘normal birth’ and provide strategies and structured teaching and assessing tools’. As others, she underlined that ‘the foundations of knowledge are there, we have the evidence’ and added: ‘There are various local and national initiatives/guidelines over the years but a proactive global reach would be inspiring.’

Download the full pdf here.

 

Normal Labour and Birth: 14th Research Conference – Monday 17th – Wednesday 19th June 2019, Grange Over Sands

grange

For conference enquiries and to register your interest in this conference, please email the Events Team ConferenceAndEvents@uclan.ac.uk or telephone: +44 (0)1772 892650.

For academic enquiries please contact Professor Soo Downe sdowne@uclan.ac.uk.

The 14th International Normal Labour and Birth Research Conference will continue the activities of the previous events in the Conference Series.

The conference will be of interest to academics, researchers, policy makers, clinical staff, service users, parents, and birth activists from around the world.

Previous events have attracted a wide range of international delegates, from architects to economists, neuroscientists to sociologists, and from those working in maternity care (midwives, doctors, doulas, paediatricians) to those who have experienced it.

The conference provides a space for networking, sharing results and research plans, and developing policy and practice change.

We look forward to receiving an abstract from you, and/or to seeing you in June 2019!

Papers or posters are invited and details about submitting your abstract are on the expandable Submissions tab below.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 1st February 2019.

Conference information – Preliminary Keynote Speakers (more to be confirmed)

Professor Jane Sandall, Kings College, London: results and implications of the POPPIE study, that is currently developing, implementing and testing a new model of continuity of care for women at risk of preterm birth

Dr Lilian Peters, epidemiologist, VU Medical Center Amsterdam, the Midwifery Academy Amsterdam Groningen and  visiting postdoctoral fellow at Western Sydney University: results of a longitudinal  Big Data study on nearly half a million healthy Australian mothers and babies, examining physiological birth and protection from long term childhood illness, and associations between such long term outcomes and birth interventions

Professor Marleen Temmerman, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Director Women’s Health, Faculty of Heath Sciences, Aga Khan university, East Africa: the content and implications of the forthcoming Lancet Optimising Cesarean Section Series

Professor Mary Steen, University of South Australia: working with fathers and families through collaboration with the  Family Included network

Kati Edwards (@KatiBYIL), poet: new poetry especially created for the conference.

Venue and accommodation

The conference venue is The Grange Hotel, Grange over Sands, Cumbria, which is situated on the fringe of the Lake District in beautiful surroundings.

Find out more details on the charms of this stylish location and how to get to the hotel here.

To book accommodation at the hotel, please contact them directly at info@grange-hotel.co.uk or telephone +44 (0)15395 33666 and let them know that you are attending this conference, as the hotel is blocked out for conference delegates and will show as unavailable on the standard booking site..

Other local accommodation is available within Grange Over Sands, and further information can be found here.

Booking

Please read the important notes about completing this form and the terms and conditions.

To book a place at the Normal Labour and Birth: 14th Research Conference which is taking place on Monday 17, Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 June 2019, please complete all fields and provide details as you wish them to appear in delegate documentation.

For booking assistance, please contact the Events Team, University of Central Lancashire

Phone: +44 (0)1772 892650  E-mail: ConferenceAndEvents@uclan.ac.uk

The booking form is on UCLan’s website (at the bottom of the page) via this link.

Progress Theatre to perform at International Normal Labour and Birth Conference

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British-based Progress Theatre will be performing at the 12th International Normal Labour and Birth Conference.

The company is made up of a small group of performers from across the UK with a background in birth and midwifery. They act out dramas and hold workshops covering issues within midwifery

 

Keynote speakers announced – 12th International Normal Labour and Birth Research Conference

12th International Normal Labour and Birth Research Conference
Grange Hotel, Grange Over Sands, Cumbria, UK
October 2nd to 4th,  2017

Keynote speakers announced:

Dr Evita Fernandez, India: Normalising and humanising birth in India.

Baroness Julia Cumberledge, UK: The power of politics: Barriers and facilitators to getting evidence into practice for maternity services at a national strategic level.

Dr Olufemi Taiwo Oladapo, WHO: Intrapartum maternity care initiatives at WHO: primary research and guidelines development.

Dr Missy Cheyney, USA: Using Big Data to understand normal labour and birth.

Dr Saraswathi Vedum, Canada: The potential of geographical mapping for maternity services research.

Dr Lisa Kane-Low, USA: Pelvic floor issues during and following childbirth: which outcomes are really associated with normal birth?

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Conference Aims

The conference will provide the opportunity to develop and disseminate evidence in the area of normal labour and birth, to enhance clinical practice, education, management, supervision, service delivery, and policy, and to further research collaboration.

Objectives

  • To disseminate ongoing and complete research
  • To provide the opportunity for collaboration and debate
  • To discuss an agenda for the future in the area of normal labour and birth

Participants

This conference will be of interest to:

  • academics and researchers working in the area of maternity services, birth and women’s health
  • those providing maternity care  (professional, lay, state-funded,  independent, midwifery, medical, nursing, and other groups)
  • policy makers with an interest in maternity services
  • clinical leaders, managers, and heads of service
  • service users
  • lecturers at all levels in maternity care
  • managers of maternity care  education

 

Call for Papers – Normal Labour and Birth: 12th Research Conference (UK – October 2017)

Download the pdf of this call out here.

1st Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

Normal Labour and Birth: 12th Research Conference:

‘Normal birth; into the future’

The Grange Hotel Conference Centre, Grange Over Sands, English Lake District
Monday 2nd to Wednesday 4th October 2017

Background

This is the twelfth international conference in a series that is designed to disseminate research, theory, art, drama, policy and practice relating to physiological childbirth. The conference will address social, cultural, physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects of labour and birth. It will examine new developments in the current evidence base on the nature of and cultures around birth, and on associated processes and outcomes of labour and birth. Papers will cover primary and secondary research, methodological debates, and new philosophies and constructs in this area. We are interested in submissions in any of the following areas:

  1. Studies that integrate knowledge from a range of scientific approaches and/or perspectives
  2. Basic science studies of the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, and sociology of normal labour and birth
  3. Studies of and contributions to practice and/or service organisation
  4. Studies of collaboration to improve maternal, infant, family, and maternity staff wellbeing
  5. Examinations of building design and of the physical and psychosocial environment of birth
  6. The identification and examination of relevant outcomes relating to labour and birth
  7. Social and cultural precursors and consequences of optimal childbirth
  8. Emotional and spiritual aspects of labour and birthing
  9. Educational aspects
  10. Economic analyses
  11. Philosophical and theoretical critiques and debates
  12. Methodological innovations in this and associated areas
  13. Drama, virtual reality, and other multi-media and e-technology approaches

Conference Aims

The conference will provide the opportunity to develop and disseminate evidence in the area of normal labour and birth, to enhance clinical practice, education, management, supervision, service delivery, and policy, and to further research collaboration.

Keynote speakers:

Objectives

  1. To disseminate ongoing and complete research
  2. To provide the opportunity for collaboration and debate
  3. To discuss an agenda for the future in the area of normal labour and birth

Participants

This conference will be of interest to:

  • academics and researchers working in the area of maternity services, birth and women’s health
  • those providing maternity care  (professional, lay, state-funded,  independent, midwifery, medical, nursing, and other groups)
  • policy makers with an interest in maternity services
  • clinical leaders, managers, and heads of service
  • service users
  • lecturers at all levels in maternity care
  • managers of maternity care  education

Social Programme

This programme is separately bookable in advance. Details will be circulated but will include a conference dinner and a social trip.

Submission of an Abstract

An abstract of the intended presentation should be submitted to the e-submission system, that is available at the following url: https://nbirth2017.exordo.com

If you do not have access to the electronic system, please contact Liz Roberts through any of the contact points given below, for advice on how to submit manually or by email.

Presentations can take the form of an oral paper, poster, workshop or symposium. Papers will be between 20 and 30 minutes long. A workshop will have a longer time allocation, but should be interactive and no more than 25% of the content should be presentational, and the abstract should specify how the audience will be involved in the remaining 75% of the time.  A symposium will also have a longer allocation, but it should include at least two distinct oral papers on a similar subject and include at least three presenting authors, and the distinct area to be addressed by each author must be made clear in the submission.

Abstracts for standard papers and posters should be a maximum of 350 words, and for workshops or symposium, a maximum of 500 words.

There are four categories of submissions. Please structure them as follows:

  1. Original research (that will be complete by October 2017)

‘Group 1’ and title of the presentation/poster

Background, including element of originality

Method

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Statement on ethical matters related to the study

Statement on funding source for the study

Statement that results will be presented at the conference

Preferred presentation mode (oral, poster, workshop or symposium)

  1. Theories and philosophies

‘Group 2’ and title of the presentation

Topic area, including element of originality

Theoretical perspective

Underpinning theories/philosophies (if any)

Argument to be made

Discussion

Conclusion

Preferred presentation mode (oral, poster, workshop or symposium)

  1. Innovations (practice and education), areas for future research, and research in progress seeking collaboration

‘Group 3’ and title of the presentation

Topic area, including element of originality

Description of innovation, area for research, or research seeking collaboration

Discussion

Conclusion

Preferred presentation mode (oral, poster, workshop or symposium)

  1. Art or drama

‘Group 4’ and title of the presentation

Topic area, including element of originality

Description of innovation, area for research, or research seeking collaboration

Discussion

Conclusion

Preferred presentation mode (oral, poster, workshop or symposium)

For more information please contact healthconferences@uclan.ac.uk  or phone on +44 (0)1772 893809 or write to: Liz Roberts, University of Central Lancashire, Conference & Events, Marketing, Chandler Building, Preston, PR1 2HE

The closing date for receipt of abstracts is 30th April 2017 and presenters will be informed of the reviewers decision by the end of June 2017.

Please note: All presenters and delegates will be required to pay a fee for each day of attendance

  • 1 Day: £135
  • 2 Days: £270
  • 3 Days: £400

VAT not applicable

Website

The Conference Announcement, Call for Papers, booking form and all future information will be available on-line at http://www.uclan.ac.uk/healthconf

Download the pdf of this call out here.

LOOK BACK: Normal Labour and Birth Conference (June, 2015)

Here you can read about the 10th Normal Labour and Birth Conference, held at Grange over Sands, Lake District, UK. The conference took place in June, 2015.

10th International Normal Labour and Birth Research Conference

The ‘Normal Labour and Birth’ conference, the 10th conference in an international series, took place in June 2015 in Grange over Sands in the English Lake District, to develop and disseminate evidence in the area of normal labour and birth.

This important global event (#normalbirth10), which is a University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) initiative, was led by Soo Downe from the Research in Childbirth and Health Unit (ReaCH), in the School of Health at UCLan.

The aims of the conference were to provide the opportunity to disseminate ongoing and complete research, to enhance clinical practice, education, management, supervision, service delivery, and policy, and to further research collaboration.

With over 200 delegates from 15 countries, the conference gave participants the opportunity to address and debate social, cultural, physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects of labour and birth.   It also examined new developments in the current evidence base on the nature of and cultures around birth, and on associated processes and outcomes of labour and birth. Papers covered primary and secondary research, methodological debates, and new philosophies and constructs in this area.  Delegates were also invited to discuss an agenda for the future in the area of normal labour and birth.

Participants included midwives, obstetricians, epidemiologists, sociologists, anthropologists, architects, service users, activists, students, paediatricians, actors, and many others.

UCLan were delighted to welcome the following keynote speakers to address the conference over the three days:

  • Professor Jim Zhang (Research on Physiological Length of Labour), Shanghai Jiao University, China
  • Professor Mary Renfrew (Implications of the Lancet Series on Midwifery), University of Dundee UK
  • Professor Peter Brocklehurst (New Innovations in the Epidemiology and Consequences of Intrapartum Events: the UK Life study), Director EGA Institute for Women’s Health,  University College London, UK
  • Professor Lisa Kane Low (Implementation of the Science supporting physiological labour and birth) University of Michigan, USA
  • Yoanna Stancheva, (Midwifery Untamed: Subverting the Status Quo Safely), student midwife, and co-founder of the Bulgarian Institute for Midwifery Research, Bulgaria

Soo Downe was delighted to lead this 10th conference and commented: “The quality of the research presented was world class. The venue, the Grange Hotel in the English Lake District, is the perfect setting to bring together researchers and others from around the world, and to showcase the best international research in the area of normal childbirth, across the whole range of methodological approach, from very small in-depth qualitative studies, to quantitative studies with hundreds of thousands of participants.”

She added: “The UCLan Research in Childbirth and Health (ReaCH) team are very proud and honoured to have set up the Conference Series, with the invaluable help of the health conferences team at UCLan, and the International Series Steering Group. We look forward to the 11th conference in Sydney, Australia in 2016, and then to welcoming everyone back at Grange in 2017.”