Why ‘watchful attendance’ by midwives is so important during labour and childbirth

A really interesting new discussion paper by Ank de Jong, Hannah Dahlen and Soo Downe makes a strong case for ‘watchful attendance’ by midwives during labour and childbirth.

(Professor Hannah Dahlen is featured in our FREE mini-course and also in our Infant Microbiome & Epgienetics full-length course.)

In this discussion paper, the authors argue the importance of midwives taking the time to “be with” someone in labour. This means midwives can also provide support by watching quietly, rather than always be actively “doing” something to the labouring parent.

I love the first line: “Care of women during childbirth is often described by the activities professionals carry out, and not by the support they give.”

What is “watchful attendance?”

The idea is that by being with a labouring expectant parent, a midwife can build a relationship based on trust and empathy.

And by “watchful attendance”, the midwife can use all her senses to assess the situation unfolding.

Here’s a great description of how a midwife uses all her senses during the labour and birth.

To quote from the paper, a midwife watches the expectant parent — “how she moves…