The world of midwifery is changing, whilst much stays the same: the importance of the relationship with women and the need for autonomous professional practise by midwives able to provide sensitive effective care, based on a foundation of scientific understanding; the world we work in is changing. Life and the world of midwifery practice grows more complicated, the knowledge base is expanding, but above all, during a renaissance of midwifery and the development of new ways of practice, of rigorous innovative research, we are reforming what it is to be a midwife, what it means to be a midwife, what our purpose is. The aim of a healthy mother and baby while necessary is no longer enough. Just as important is a positive experience, preparation for mothering and parenting, caring for women with dignity and respect for their autonomy, supporting the growth of love and family integrity. These form part of a more complex aim that reflects the fundamental contribution of midwifery to the start of life and the new family. And in reflection of these more complicated aims, the fundamentals of midwifery require more complex, more nuanced and rich understanding, knowledge and approaches as a basis. Today’s midwifery students require practical and academic, interpersonal, social and intellectual skills. The many students I have met during my Presidency are articulate, passionate, compassionate and skilled. They are highly motivated and in many ways very demanding of themselves and others in pursuit of excellent midwifery. The ‘Fundamentals of Midwifery’ will provide students with an excellent resource to lay a foundation to practice. I anticipate that
qualified midwives will love it and find it helpful too. The authors of the chapters, experts in their field, and with practical as well as academic experience, lay here a solid rigorous foundation. Student midwives who are inheriting a renaissance of thinking, understanding and awareness
of the nature of modern day midwifery will be tasked with spreading the renaissance into reform. They will form a new world order in midwifery and will help create a new world for women, babies and families. These fundamentals for midwifery will support the reform to a
better world of midwifery.
The fundamentals in these pages will be a must read for every student of midwifery, and for many others too.