AIMS Journal, 2024, Vol 36, No 3
Update by the AIMS Campaigns Team
In June Catharine from the PIMS team featured on the Blossoming Midwife podcast which is run by Holly Ingram, a midwifery lecturer from Anglia Ruskin University. Catharine gave an introduction to AIMS and talked about the first three PIMS case studies that the team put together for the British Intrapartum Care Society (BICS) Conference last year.
The first case study was optimal cord clamping, supporting Amanda Burleigh's excellent campaign, "Wait for White" (for more information see www.waitforwhite.com and www.bloodtobaby.com). As part of this she talked about offering bedside resuscitation. Bedside resuscitation is where breathing help can be started before cutting the cord. This has been shown to improve outcomes for many newborns. See our poster for more details.
The second case study the team put together was about Molly O'Brien's great Biomechanics course. The course includes techniques for spotting and resolving problems with the baby’s position or with delays in labour (‘labour dystocia’), techniques that can be used not only by midwives but by birthing women and people themselves. (Please also see our journal article about Molly's work available here).
Our third case study was Family-Centred Caesarean birth, which differs from a conventional Caesarean birth mainly by emphasising slow delivery of the newborn's body and includes optimal cord clamping and immediate or early skin-to-skin contact.
We are continuing to develop more PIMS case studies into Optibreech training and the microbiome - watch this space for more!
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AIMS supports all maternity service users to navigate the system as it exists, and campaigns for a system which truly meets the needs of all.