My Personal Midwifery Philosophy

Every individual possesses an abundance of knowledge. This knowledge is what we know about ourselves and what we know about the world around us. Such knowledge shapes and underpins the way we interact with others on all levels. Firstly, this essay will explore my own sources of knowledge about midwifery with a focus on my culture and its importance as well as, social and philosophical influences to my understandings. Secondly, I will provide a deep discussion about my personal midwifery philosophy, and the impacts of my biases and beliefs on the partnership between midwife and women. Lastly, I will share some personal experiences and possible attitudinal effects that these can have in two forms whether it be positive and or negative.
Factors
65). My personal midwifery philosophy outlines my ideal self and the way I aspire to practice. It states that, I see haputanga as a sacred space, and believe wholeheartedly in creating pregnancy care that is altered and specific to the needs and wants of woman and her whanau. Furthermore, I believe a woman’s body is made to birth and stand firm to protecting the physiological processes of birth, whilst also being prepared for collaborative work alongside other health professionals when needed. I envision on giving the women and her whanau care that empowers and acknowledges their experiences with a holistic approach to care in all forms such as: Physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being. Whilst my philosophy states my vision for women, I am aware that my bias and cultural beliefs around abortion contradicts my ideal approach to a meaningful midwifery partnership. Reflecting on my biases I have learnt that not all people will have the same beliefs, and as a health professional it is important to become aware of these things so that unconscious biases do not determine or cloud my practices. The impact my biases might have on women may be significant to them personally and their emotional well-being. For instance, a woman may adopt feelings and emotions of guilt, discontentment,
According to Woten (2017) “Self-awareness is the process of understanding one’s owns thoughts, feelings, personal beliefs, values, strengths, limitations, and behaviours” (para. 1). Last week I had an interaction based around my beliefs about abortion and I was confronted by the question of “would your perspective on things changed if it was a woman that was sexually abused?”. I was absolutely stumped and at that point, my whole belief was tested, this made me realise that every woman has her own reason for aborting a baby, and it is my role as a midwife to support each individual woman and her decisions. Moreover, on a social level thinking back two years ago, my own friend came to me distraught about her choice of wanting to abort for personal reasons, and I supported her through this process and did not once think of my beliefs and emotions, and where they stood in relation to this situation. In saying this each case around abortion may hold different characteristics which can affect the way I feel, perceive the situation. If a woman was to disclose that she was sexually assaulted my reaction may be more empathetic. Negatively, this could also be visualised if I show negative non-verbal cues of communication such a body language that may be interpreted by the women based on her perception of my