Resources

Perinatal mental health: developing skills in midwifery practice

Deborah Fox, Kathy Solanki, Georgia Brown, Christine Catling, Tyra McEwen, Jayne Margetts, Patrick Abela, Vanessa Scarf, Annabel Sheehy, Loretta Musgrave, Kathleen Baird

Although assessment, support, and referral of women suffering from mental ill health is a core midwifery skill, there is limited opportunity for students to gain clinical placement experiences that are specific to PMH. The aim of this project was to support midwifery students to develop woman centred skills and confidence in communicating with women and birthing people in the context of their perinatal mental health.  A new Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was piloted at UTS in 2021 in undergraduate and postgraduate pre-registration midwifery subjects ‘Perinatal mental health’ (PMH). The OSCE was designed and instituted to facilitate an authentic midwifery PMH consultation. Feedback was synthesised to inform the production of interactive videos, aiming to help students prepare for their PMH OSCE and for clinical practice. The videos and OSCEs aim to strengthen teaching and learning objectives by simulating real-world clinical encounters.

Videos

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

Stillbirth CRE Let’s Talk Timing of Birth Resources

Brochure for Women

The Let’s Talk Timing of Birth resources for women provide information on the importance of timing birth at the appropriate gestational age, describe what a planned birth is, and when a planned birth might be considered. These resources also introduce the concept of stillbirth and some of the risk factors that increase a woman’s chance of stillbirth. Download print ready pdf here.

Information for Healthcare Professionals

The fact sheet for healthcare professionals was developed to support implementation of the Let’s Talk Timing of Birth resources for women. This fact sheet provides context to the brochure and waiting room video, and answers some of the commonly asked questions received from healthcare professionals during development and testing of these women’s resources. It also contains QR codes to download the Let’s Talk Timing of Birth resources from the Stillbirth CRE website, as well as access the online Safer Baby Bundle eLearning module. Download the print ready pdf here.

Let’s Talk Timing Waiting Room Video for Women

The waiting room video is a complimentary resource to the brochure and has been designed for all women, but especially to meet the needs of those with low literacy and where English is a second language. There is also a second version of this video which includes captioning, enabling accessibility to consumers with hearing impairments. To access these videos, please use the links below. 

• General version: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/755321792
• Version with captions: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/755323401