Trends in maternity services in India

Changes in social structure, variation in family life style can be seen in the services.

We can see more single parents families in this country.
More fathers are more assuming care taking responsibilities for their children.

1.More focus on health education.

2.Families are not as extended so are smaller than previous.

Few members are present as support people in a time of crisis. Nurses are called on to fulfill this role more than ever before.

3.Even more women work outside of the home at least their part time jobs.
More child centre needs to be addressed.

4.Cost containment
It means now the trend is that the health care delivery is focusing on reducing the cost of health care.

5.Expanded role of the health care provider such as nurse practitioners

6.Family centred care :
More natural child birth environment where partner and family members may remain in the home like environment and participate in child birth experience.

7.More people are accessing the health care. Increased number of people with health insurance and more women are there who are begin the prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy.

8.Shortening of the hospital stay :
Routine hospital stay for mother and new born after an uncomplicated birth is now 2 days or less. This short term hospital stay required intensive health teaching by the nursing staff and follow up care by the community health nurse.

9.we should increase the use of alternative treatment modalities.

Nurses have an increasing obligation to be aware of the complementary and alternative therapies.

10.Increased use of technologies:

The field of assisted reproduction seeking information on internet and monitoring fetal heart rate by Doppler USG are examples.

11.Increasing the alternative settings and styles for health care.

We have to do more natural child birth environment by refitting labour and delivery Room as birthing rooms, often called labour delivery recovery room or labour delivery recovery post partum rooms.

Partners, family members and other support people are invited to stay with the women.

Couplet care for both the mother and the baby by the primary nurse is encouraged after the births.

Free birthing

It refers to women giving birth without any health care provider supervision.They learn about labour and delivery through internet and books.

12.Increased emphasis on preventive care

Midwifery as a separate profession.
Nurse midwife leaders believe that midwifery is a specialization,it has a body of knowledge and many countries have take midwifery as a separate profession like nursing profession.

13.Midwifery model of care and rejection of medical model of care.

Midwifery model of care is more woman centered.
The women enjoys the personalized care from the midwives and midwife ‘s believe that pregnancy and childbirth are normal physiological phenomenon and not pathological as in medical model.

14.Sitting posture or upright position is very good for childbirth.

15.Warm birth method promotes relaxation of the abdominal and uterine muscles and warmth of water causes less discomfort.The duration of first stage labour can be shortened.

16.Present day the nurse should be trained properly to take care of women admitted with new challenging infection like AlDS in pregnant women.