Communication in Midwifery: Theory and Practice (1st Edition): Chapter 7: Communication in Public Health Midwifery

This chapter focuses on communication for one of the key roles of midwifery practice – supporting and delivering care around public health. Public health has been defined as “the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organised efforts of society” (Acheson 1988). In simple terms, public health is an umbrella term which covers many different aspects of life-course health, with a core part focussing on personal, community and population contribution and action to improving health outcomes for all (Acheson 1988).
Midwives are uniquely placed to deliver public health because of their one-to-one role in supporting people and families during the child-bearing year. Effective public health can contribute to safe, high-quality outcomes for families (Department of Health 2013a, Marshall et al 2019). There is a greater emphasis now on embedding public health values as an integral part of the midwife’s role, and this can be seen by the development of the recent NMC Standards for Proficiency (Meegan 2020). Undergraduate curricula have now been changed to reflect the new standards, and midwives currently in practice will need to ensure that they update themselves accordingly. The widening of the midwife’s role in public health is a recognition of the crucial part that they play in improving broader health outcomes for families.