A bright future for Midwifery in India – Thirumala Nangunoori

I am very hopeful for a future where India will be an excellent example for providing the best standards of maternal care.

Midwifery mentor Nangunoori Thirumala has had seven years of nursing experience. But she remembers nothing from her nursing days to equate to the searing passion her career found on the path of midwifery. Today, Vanasthalipuram’s Area Hospital is proud to have her as a midwifery mentor.
She recalls her response to the government notification calling her to be a midwife in 2017. The extensive selection process involved:

The first interview
A theory exam for those who cleared the first interview
The second interview for those who cleared the theory exam
Shortlisting of 30 trainees
A final interview with the 30 trainees to gauge their sincerity

After all of this, she came onboard for her 18-month midwifery training. This rigorously filtered selection process clarifies that Fernandez Hospital, and the Government of Telangana are highly committed to midwifery care. Thirumala says, “It is the only way we can make sure that genuine women are selected to be midwives in India. I am very hopeful for a future where India will be an excellent example for providing the best standards of maternal care.”

When she was a nurse, Thirumala was heartbroken to see the absence of respectful maternity care in government setups. Obstetricians multitasked and most of the times, only nurses worked with mothers. When a mother is in labour it is essential to track the progress of her contractions. A midwife can gauge almost everything that the mother is feeling. But can we expect that kind of support, time, and care from a hospital environment that is understaffed? Thirumala denies it vehemently. Which is why she insists that government hospitals in India need midwives desperately.

The Area Hospital in Vanasthalipuram has come a considerable way forward now. New ideas like birthing positions, including birthing tools, allowing the partner to be a part of the birthing process, etc. are all part of birthing at this unit. These changes came in after midwives began working at the hospital. To care for the wellbeing of pregnant women and their unborn children, the hospital is also running antenatal clinics and childbirth classes. It would be fair to say that the road leading to this change was highly challenging. Thirumala had to urge the government to provide special rooms for privacy while birthing. The facility is now a flourishing hub of midwifery-led care. Initially, no one in the government sector was aware of midwifery. She educated the doctors and obstetricians about midwifery. When she demonstrated how midwifery care could help women, they started believing in midwives and were more than willing to treat them as equals.

4-1-1229/1, Bogulkunta, Hyderabad – 500001. Telangana, India.

Job Title: International Clinical Midwifery Educator, Fernandez Foundation

Accountable to: Director of Midwifery Services, Fernandez Foundation

Mission

We are committed to providing access to excellent, equitable, evidence-based and respectful healthcare for women and the new-born. We believe that life is sacred and precious, and we do our best to affirm and preserve it always.

Vision

A world in which every woman and child has access to high-quality, compassionate care, that enables a life of respect and dignity.

1. Teaching and Training

Provide clinical supervision and leadership working alongside the national midwifery educators (NMEs) team, monitoring, and coaching, during pre-planned sessions, ensuring midwives attain their clinical competencies, by participating in their clinical assessment process.
Participate in the preparation of Personal Development Plans for staff and contribute to annual appraisals.
Working closely with the NME team to support development of teaching and training.
Professional Midwifery Training: Contribute to teaching midwifery subjects and women centred care in the twelve months nurse midwife practitioner education recognised by the Indian Nursing Council (INC).
Training and development-Support the delivery of Midwifery care. Reflective learning and journal clubs encouraging midwives to use the sessions in reading evidence-based articles and translating to clinical practice
Establishing and maintaining systems to record education, training, and development activities.
Evaluation of education, training, and development activities
Ensuring that education, training and development activities are evidence based.
Assist the Fernandez Foundation with training and development strategy for the professional development of midwives, doulas, additional birth support staff

2. Clinical Mentorship

Provide clinical mentoring by providing 80% clinical leadership working alongside our students and qualified midwives encouraging and promoting best practice.
Leading by clinical expertise in developing midwifery confidence caring for mothers in the midwife led centre.
Providing clinical leadership and communicating with women birth options promoting midwife led care in the midwife led unit

3. Professional Knowledge

Demonstrate practitioner competence and professionalism.
Demonstrate a high level of knowledge and expertise relevant to the post.
Demonstrate knowledge of relevant legislation and standards.
Demonstrate an understanding of key issues and priorities in the Indian context.
Demonstrate commitment to educational and professional development issues.
Demonstrate skills in teaching and facilitation.

4. Research and Audit

Demonstrates strong knowledge of research methods and knowledge of the challenges and opportunities to develop research, audit and evidence-based practice.
Encouraging and supporting the research agenda at local and national level
Encouraging research and audit development in the activities of the midwife led unit
Developing Research and clinical tools sharing the outcomes of the MLU

The above job specification is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.

Job Title: National Midwifery Educator, Fernandez Foundation

Accountable to: Director of Midwifery Services, Fernandez Foundation

Mission
We are committed to providing access to excellent, equitable, evidence-based and respectful healthcare for women and the new-born. We believe that life is sacred and precious and we do our best to affirm and preserve it always.

Vision
A world in which every woman and child has access to high-quality, compassionate care, that enables a life of respect and dignity.

1. Teaching and Training

Provide clinical supervision and leadership working alongside the midwifery team, monitoring and coaching, during pre-planned sessions, ensuring midwives attain their clinical competencies, by participating in their clinical assessment process.
Participate in the preparation of Personal Development Plans for staff and contribute to annual appraisals.
Professional Midwifery Training: Contribute to teaching midwifery subjects and women centred care in the twelve months nurse midwife practitioner education recognised by the Indian Nursing Council (INC).
Training and development-Support the delivery of Midwifery care. Reflective learning and journal clubs encouraging midwives to use the sessions in reading evidence-based articles and translating to clinical practice
Establishing and maintaining systems to record education, training and development activities.
Evaluation of education, training and development activities
Ensuring that education, training and development activities are evidence based.
Assist the Fernandez Foundation with training and development strategy for the professional development of midwives, doulas, additional birth support staff

2. Clinical Mentorship

Provide clinical mentoring by providing 80% clinical leadership working alongside our students and qualified midwives encouraging and promoting best practice.
Leading by clinical expertise in developing midwifery confidence caring for mothers in the midwife led centre.
Providing clinical leadership and communicating with women birth options promoting midwife led care in the midwife led unit

3. Professional Knowledge

Demonstrate practitioner competence and professionalism.
Demonstrate a high level of knowledge and expertise relevant to the post.
Demonstrate knowledge of relevant legislation and standards.
Demonstrate an understanding of key issues and priorities in the Indian context.
Demonstrate commitment to educational and professional development issues.
Demonstrate skills in teaching and facilitation.

4. Research and Audit

Demonstrates strong knowledge of research methods and knowledge of the challenges and opportunities to develop research, audit and evidence-based practice.
Encouraging and supporting the research agenda at local and national level
Encouraging research and audit development in the activities of the midwife led unit
Developing Research and clinical tools sharing the outcomes of the MLU

Who is a Midwife

A midwife is a person who has completed a midwifery education programme that is based on the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice and the framework of the ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education. They provide care for women during pregnancy, labour, postpartum period as well as the care of the newborn baby.