Midwifery: Science Meets Compassionate Care

Regulation of the nursing and midwifery professions is often viewed as a detached, rules-based process, yet its true role is to protect the public by actively supporting the professional development of its practitioners. This balance is critical to maintain the public's trust in these highly-regarded caring professions, and it requires a forward-thinking approach that embraces both the science and the humanity of care.This episode explores the unique identity of the midwifery profession, examining its core principles of art and science, its evolution towards integrated community care, and the importance of its professional distinction from nursing. It offers perspectives on education, the future of practice, and the profound, privileged role of the midwife.Host Kathyann Barrett, NMBI Head of Operations, is joined by Dr. Karn Cliffe, NMBI Director of Professional Standards Midwifery, and Lauren Walsh, a second year midwifery student at UCD, for this insightful discussion.THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUTMidwifery career path and travelThe art and science of midwiferyMidwifery's distinct professional identityShift to integrated community careThe privilege of a midwife's roleGUESTS DETAILSDr. Karn Cliffe is the Director for Professional Standards for Midwifery with the Nursing & Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). A dual-qualified nurse and midwife, she has extensive international experience in community and hospital settings and holds the Adjunct Professor title at Trinity College Dublin. She is joined by Lauren Walsh, a second-year midwifery student at UCD.MORE INFORMATIONNMBI is the statutory body which sets the standards for the education, registration and professional conduct of nurses and midwives. We advise on how nurses and midwives should provide care to patients, their families and society. Our mission is to protect the public and the integrity of the professions of nursing and midwifery through the promotion of high standards of education, training, and professional conduct. We achieve this by providing leadership to registered nurses and midwives to support them to deliver safe care through innovative and proactive professional regulation.  Our functions in safeguarding the public involve establishing and maintaining the Register of Nurses and Midwives. We also establish procedures and criteria for the assessment and registration of nurses and midwives. Visit the Registration section of our website to learn more. Additionally, we set the standards and requirements for nursing and midwifery education programmes. We approve education programmes and further education programmes for nurses and midwives. Visit NMBI.ie to learn more. QUOTESIt's looking at the woman and the baby as a unit. So we never look at just the woman, and we look at the woman carrying her baby. - Dr. Karn CliffeI hope we see more integration and integration of care across the community and the acute settings. - Dr. Karn CliffeI loved literally within the first week of starting in my training, the end of the first week, going, Wow, this is it. I'm home. - Lauren WalshKEYWORDS#IrishMidwifery #MidwiferyStandards #PerinatalCare #MidwiferyEducation #NMBI