Scottish Normal Labour and Birth Course

Background

The Scottish Normal Labour and Birth Course has been developed as part of the Scottish Multiprofessional Maternity Development Programme (SMMDP) - an evolving programme of courses designed to meet the needs of healthcare professionals involved in the delivery of maternity care.

The Course has been developed and organised as part of the SMMDP in an attempt to ensure midwives and other maternity care professionals have the knowledge and confidence in supporting women in labour to achieve a normal birth. This is one of the prime functions of a midwife but requires specific psychological, physical, technical knowledge and skills. Despite this being central to midwifery practice, many midwives and other maternity care professionals work predominately in environments where higher levels of intervention are the norm and they have had to become knowledgeable and proficient in different skills and consequently are less confident supporting women in a low-risk setting.

Promoting normality was seen as one of the core competencies for all professionals in maternity care identified in the ‘Overview report’ from the Expert Group on Acute Maternity Services (EGAMS) (Scottish Executive 2002).

The range of core skills required mainly by midwives but relevant to all professionals to keep birth normal as possible are:

Being confident to provide intrapartum care in a low technology setting
Being comfortable to use embodied knowledge and skills to assess a woman and her baby as opposed to using technology
Being able to let labour 'be' and not interfere unnecessarily
Being confident to avert or manage problems that might arise
Being willing to employ other options to manage pain without access to epidurals
Being solely responsible for outcomes without access to on site specialist assistance
Being confident to trust the process of labour and be flexible with respect to time
Being a midwife who enjoys practising what the participants call 'real midwifery'.

Promoting normality also includes the use of available evidence to support care (one-to-one care in labour). (EGAMS 2002, p.44)

The Scottish Normal Labour and Birth Course (SNLBC) has been developed and organised by the Scottish Multiprofessional Maternity Development Programme (SMMDP) in an attempt to ensure midwives and other maternity care professionals have this knowledge and the associated skills.

Course Descriptor

Course Title	Scottish Normal Labour and Birth Course
Course Aim	To give professionals in maternity care the opportunity to review current evidence and re-visit labour and childbirth in a manner that acknowledges the concept of normality in childbirth: that normal childbirth is a physiological rather than a pathological event.
Course Learning Outcomes	Candidates will be able to: · Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the underlying concepts in normal labour. · Maternity care professionals will be able to promote the practice of normal labour, whenever possible, to the benefit of the long term health of women and their babies
Indicative Content	Definitions of normality and major influencing factors. Preparation, movement, nutrition, pain relief, and assessment strategies. ‘What If’ scenarios. To facilitate normal labour in all aspects of practice.
Teaching and Learning Strategies	Course manual with ‘Activity boxes’ Lectures Skill stations Workshops Discussion groups
Assessment Strategy	Pre-course work including discussion topic preparation. Post-course report (500–700 words) reflecting on any aspect of the candidate’s practice which the course has influenced
Nominal Study Hours	Precourse reading – 10–12 hours Taught course – 12 hours Reflective report – 8–10 hours
Course Instructors		Instructors must have completed a Scottish Generic Instructors Training Course or if they have previous appropriate education training experience and are on the SMMDP database as an instructor. All instructors must comply with the SMMDP Code of Practice for Instructors.
Minimum Number of Candidates		8
Maximum Number of Candidates		20
Minimum Number of Instructors to Participants		1 instructor to 4 candidates (skill stations and workshops). To comply with the SMMDP quality measures there must be one external trainer included in the faculty. This will be organised by the SMMDP Office.
Number of Instructor Candidates on a course		Not more than 50%
Indicate who is Likely to Benefit from the Course		Admission to the course is open to any registered maternity care professionals whose clinical work involves intrapartum care.
Equipment / Resources Required for Course		A sample equipment list is available for viewing