[...]... the provision of health care, which invariably includes maternity care I argue that the health care system and the way that it developed and is organised inevitably informs, and may actually determine, the interaction between the childbearing woman and those who attend her As well as identifying the issues which serve to distinguish the systems of health care and maternity care, I examine three examples... on the need for and the nature of support as it is provided for the individual woman by her carer or carers Beginning with the nature of stress in childbearing, I move on to examine specific interventions which may be supportive This supportive care may be provided by the informal carers, such as partners, relatives and friends, or by the formal carers who comprise part of the health care system examined... better and more appropriate research and more informed and dispassionate policy-making Supportive Care and Midwifery should be key reading for researchers, practitioners and policy-makers alike: childbearing women, still often left out of the picture, will find it quite fascinating to know how often their feelings about the need for support are grounded in science, and thus should ± in a rational world... benefits which have been attributed by physicians and others to one particular questionably therapeutic agent This substance was reputed to clear asthma and catarrh, to facilitate healing, to reduce abscesses and sores, to resolve headaches, to cure diseases of the neck glands, to end convulsions and epilepsy and to remedy skin conditions and pains of the abdomen and heart (Dickson, 1954: 59) While the beneficial... promotion and adoption (and huge profits for the pharmaceutical company) Herein lies a major problem Because supportive care is cheap ± involving no fancy technology and usually provided by women, the world's cheapest labourers ± the danger is that it will be hailed as a low cost solution to all the current sicknesses of the maternity care industry If this resulted in increased resources for midwifery, and. .. the potential of midwives in all cultural contexts to provide effective and supportive care, the suspect politics and false economics might not matter very much But in a situation in which midwifery in many countries remains a besieged occupation, we badly need a more evidence-based approach to evaluating the best way forward Rosemary Mander's book should really help us on this path to better and more... 2 Introduction Fads and fashions are also seen to come and go in the field of maternity care These fashions may relate to aspects such as the woman's diet, to her alcohol intake, to the place of birth, to who is present at the birth, to the contact between the mother and baby, to the position in which she gives birth and to a host of other aspects of the woman's and her baby's care It is inevitable... This aspect, along with affect and aid, forms the triad of support described by Kahn and Antonucci (1980) The nature of the information is spelt out in Cobb's, albeit rather dated, definition (Cobb 1976): `information leading the subject to believe that he is cared for and loved 10 Chapter One esteemed and valued [and] that he belongs to a network of communication and mutual obligation' By using... seeking to change or improve a local health care system In this chapter I am suggesting that the philosophy of the health care system is crucial to the provision of, not only health care in general, but particularly maternity care Thus, the philosophy which is articulated by the political leaders and the spin doctors and which is operationalised by the bureaucrats and the apparatchiks is likely to affect... supported person and the supportive person must be exquisitely high, and Wills describes this form of support as only being likely between close family members and longstanding friends He indicates that for esteem support to be effective some degree of unconditional positive regard is necessary Deconstructing support Although I, like other writers, have attempted to tease out the various strands which combine . alt="" Supportive Care and Midwifery ROSEMARY MANDER MSc, PhD, RGN, SCM, MTD b Blackwell Science Supportive Care and Midwifery Supportive Care and Midwifery ROSEMARY. Data Mander, Rosemary. Supportive care and midwifery/ Rosemary Mander. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-632-05425-5 1. Midwifery.