Include references and index.

Contents: Part 1: The midwife in context: Global midwifery – an international perspective -- An introduction to midwifery history in the united kingdom -- The regulation of midwives -- Clinical governance and the midwife -- Being a student midwife -- Evidence based practice and research for practice -- Leadership and management in midwifery -- An instruction to ethics for midwifery practices -- Law and the midwife -- pharmacology and the midwife -- Part 2: Child birth in context: Sociocultural and spiritual context of childbearing -- Psychological context of child birth -- Sex, gender, sexuality and childbearing -- National health service and midwifery -- Maternity service provision -- Legal framework for the care of the child -- Part 3: Public health, health promotion and childbirth: Epidemiology -- Infection prevention and control in maternity care -- Nutrition for a healthy pregnancy -- Complementary therapies and natural remedies in pregnancy and child birth -- Public health, health promotion and education -- Preconception care -- Education for parenthood -- Physical preparation for childbirth and beyond -- Vulnerable women and families -- Part 4: The anatomy and physiology of fertility, conception and pregnancy: Anatomy of male and female reproduction -- Female reproductive physiology – cyclical changes in the ovaries, uterus and mammary gland, across the infertile cycle -- Genetics and genomics -- Fertility and it control --Infertility and assisted conception -- From the fertilisation to feto – placental development -- The fetal skull -- Part 5: Pregnancy: Maternal cardiovascular, respiratory, haemodynamic, uterine, and gastrointestinal –mammary adaptations to the fertile cycles -- Antenatal care -- Antenatal investigations -- The choice and personalization agenda: place of birth and care -- Part 6: Labour and birth: Neuendocrinology of parenting: from nocturnal uterine activation to suckling – lactation and emotional connectivity between parent and infant -- Care in the first stage of labour -- Care in the second stage of labour -- Supporting choices in reducing pain and fear during labour -- Care in the third stage of labour -- The pelvic floor -- Part 7: Postnatal care and the care of the newborn baby: Women and family-centred postnatal care -- Physiology, assessment, and care of the newborn -- Thermoregulation -- Infant feeding and relationship building – Part 8: Women and babies with complex needs: The preterm baby and the small baby -- Respiratory and cardiac disorders in the neonate -- Neonatal jaundice -- Neonatal infection -- Congenital anomalies and metabolic and endocrine disorders -- Pregnancy loss and the baby deaths -- Nausea and vomiting -- Bleeding in pregnancy – Hypertensive and medical disorders in pregnancy -- Sexually transmitted infections -- Abnormalities and anomalies of the genital tract -- Multiple pregnancy and birth: implication for midwives, women, and their families -- Preterm labour and birth -- Induction of labour and post-tem pregnancy -- Presentation of prolapse of the umbilical cord -- Rhythmic variations of labour -- Malpositions and malpresentations -- Obstructed labour and uterine rupture -- Obstetric interventions -- Shoulder dystocial -- Complications related to the third stage of labour -- Maternal morbidity following childbirth -- Mental health and well being in the pregnancy and childbirth -- Pregnancy loss and the death of a baby: grief and bereavement care -- Midwifery – practicing in a complex world.