Resilience and sustainability amongst maternity care providers.

Crowther, Susan

Abstract

This chapter looks at maternity care providers who provide care in this social, political and emotional milieu on a daily basis. The emotional work of maternity care provision cannot be underestimated. Contemporary maternity environments have an accumulative psychosocial and biomedical complexity and acuity which place increasing stresses for perinatal health providers when supporting women. This is coupled with the growing desire for technological interventions from mothers and families who use the services. With raising birth rates juxtaposed to financially stretched local services and frequent unrealistic staffing ratios in many services, the potential for unhealthy practices and low levels of resilience in order 'to cope' arise in practice reality. There is evidence of increasing burnout, emotional fatigue, depression and subsequent reduction in work satisfaction in perinatal health workforce. Turning our attention to the psychosocial wellbeing of perinatal health workforce is relevant.13

Citation

CROWTHER, S. 2017. Resilience and sustainability amongst maternity care providers. In Thomson, G. and Schmied, V. (eds.) Psychosocial resilience and risk in the perinatal period: implications and guidance for professionals. Abingdon: Routledge [online], chapter 13, pages 185-200. Available from: https://www.routledge.com/Psychosocial-Resilience-and-Risk-in-the-Perinatal-Period-Implications/Thomson-Schmied/p/book/9781138101586

• Online Publication Date: Jun 13, 2017
• Publication Date: Jul 14, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jul 20, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 20, 2018
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Pages: 185-200
• Book Title: Psychosocial resilience and risk in the perinatal period: implications and guidance for professionals
• ISBN: 9781138101579
• Keywords: Maternity care providers; Wellbeing; Workforce; Psychosocial resilience
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/3007
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/Psychosocial-Resilience-and-Risk-in-the-Perinatal-Period-Implications/Thomson-Schmied/p/book/9781138101586