The Role of the Midwife
Assignment
April 2015
Domestic abuse has been around for centuries. However, over the years various forms of domestic abuse have been identified and as a result it is now defined in numerous ways. Due to the number of definitions used it has caused the spectrum of domestic violence to grow significantly. These definitions have been influenced by such things as culture and also the age in which these events happened. For example, during the 1800s it was acceptable for a man to beat his wife providing he used a stick no wider than the diameter of his own thumb. This was agreed in British law.
Domestic Abuse: An incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional)
…show more content…
It was also identified that women will use various methods of reporting these events. Some women will openly speak to the police, a social worker or health professional. In some cases domestic abuse will be recognised by another person and it is then this other person that reports the issue. Occasionally women may deny that they are suffering. They may develop reasonable justifications for the symptoms that have been questioned by the …show more content…
Prevalence Rates increase from 5% to 21% during pregnancy and from 13% to 21% postnatally (RCM, 2012). It has been recognised that these occurrences are of particular concern as they don’t only effect the woman but the unborn or new born child too. They can also have dramatic effects on other children in the family. During pregnancy a woman may attend to see her midwife approximately 10 times (nulliparous) or 7 times (multiparous), assuming she has a normal pregnancy. The midwife should therefore encourage and develop a good relationship with the woman, give her the opportunity to discuss difficult subjects and divulge any sensitive details (NICE, 2008). The midwife should have adequate knowledge and understanding of domestic abuse, the signs and symptoms to look out for and know who to refer to if necessary. Although there are many characteristics of an abused partner that have been recognised, there are many common signs in which the midwife should be alert to. It is not uncommon for victims of domestic abuse to access health services more frequently. A study conducted by Bergman (1991) found that the number of hospital admissions were four times higher in the group of women who’d suffered from domestic violence than those women that hadn’t. This type of information should be considered when dealing with these women. This is a major indication of potential DV
In this paper I will be telling you many different forms of domestic violence. I will include the physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse, social abuse, and emotional abuse. I will also describe the "cycle of violence", teen dating violence, and why women stay with an abusive partner.
With respect to older women, the issue is that there is a serious lack in differentiating between elder abuse and domestic violence. The discrepancy causes confusion as to what agency to report either volunteered or mandated cases of abuse (Kilbane & Spira, 2010). Furthermore, it is because of reporting errors that victims of abuse may not receive the services that are congruent to the type of abuse (Kilbane & Spira, 2010) indicating, “…a lack of centralized reporting of cases….” (Kilbane & Spira, 2010, p. 165).
Lemmey, D., McFarlane, J., Willson, P., Malecha, A. (2001). Intimate partner violence: mother’s perspectives of effects on their children. The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing, 26(2), 98-103.
It is imperative to be aware of the implications that come about from domestic violence, and as a nurse, be prepared to properly care for this population of patients. This is an extremely sensitive issue that must be addressed properly, and in doing so nurses can make it easier for the patient to open up about the situation. The patient will be able to provide valuable information that can help bring about an appropriate plan of care if they feel like the nurse is being “empathetic and non-judgmental” (Van Der Wath et al., 2013, p. 2244). Domestic violence not only affects the patient, but also the nurse caring for the patient. This can take an emotional toll on the nurse. In caring for a patient who is a victim of intimate partner abuse, the nurse is vulnerable to suffering from secondary traumatic stress, and therefore it is relevant and necessary to study the experiences lived by nurses’ who have cared for this population of patients. The study can give insight as to what exactly nurses experience, and how to improve the outcomes for both the patient and the
The scary part is that this number does not even account for the numerous cases that are not even reported. Many victims are threatened or even hurt so badly that they must keep their mouth shut in fear of even worse abuse to come. Of course, a large portion of these victims are women, which makes it even more understandable. In order to deal with the after effects of domestic abuse, women need social and emotional support (Svavarsdóttir et al.).
Just under half a million Australian women reported that they had experienced physical or sexual violence or sexual assault. Women that are personally victimized by domestic violence become emotionally unstable and they are unable to cope with certain situations. Many think that it is their fault because they think they’ve done something wrong to cause their spouse attack them. However, women aren’t the only victims when it comes to domestic violence; men are victims too. The majority of violence against men is committed by other men. Of men who reported that they had experienced physical violence, 73.7% said that the perpetrator was a male, but that doesn’t mean women don’t abuse males just as much. Women are much more sympathised than men when it comes to domestic violence. People just assume that if a male is getting physically or emotionally abused, they’re a wimp and can’t fight for themselves. Whereas if a women was the victim, people automatically blame the abuser. At least one in three victims of some type of domestic violence is
In doing so as a midwife there are times when certain boundaries are put in place in order to treat the women with respect and care within certain aspects of their life, such as maintaining the women’s dignity in a foreign hospital environment. It is illustrated that when women aren’t given their specific needs or wishes, they may resort to other techniques in order to gain what they want therefore leading to avoidance and confrontation (Clark, 2010). Another quality is by providing a therapeutic relationship with the women. According to Widang et al (2008) when women are treated as an individual and not an object to be treated, their experiences during pregnancies and labour and choices are greatly valued. This allows the women to feel inclusive throughout their pregnancy journey although women who come across discrimination and disrespect would increase the chance of negative experiences, therefore the women would need greater support to overcome certain issues. Therefore, in order for women to feel safe and participate without fear effective communication between health professionals is needed for better care. In the end, it is important for health professionals to reinforce the need for evidence-based practice and overcome the obstacles that midwives will be faced within their practices. These include providing a suitable model of care for
Gender-based violence has been recognized as a large public health problem as well as a violation of human rights worldwide. One out of three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in another way at least once in her life (www.infoforhealth.org). The abuser is usually a member of the family, introducing the difficult problem in that the abuse usually happens behind closed doors, and is often viewed by cultural norms and legal systems as a family matter rather than a crime.
Therefore, domestic violence is a form of oppression and control usually perpetrated against women and/or children and is defined by the social work dictionary as abuse of children, older people, spouses, and others in the home usually by another member of the family or other residents. The social problem in which one's property health or life are endangered or on as a result of the intentional behavior of another family member (Barker, 2003).
... our society. It is important to educate the public on domestic violence issues, and provide better medical care to women who are experiencing abuse. In addition, it is also imperative that physicians be trained and mandated to screen female patients for signs of domestic abuse, and be more sensitive to the frightening situation abused women find themselves in.
This essay will merely touch the surface on Domestic Abuse (DA) as well as explain why it could be beneficial to study within the social sciences. Abuse should simply not exist yet; throughout society, it may take place without salutation from civilians or the authorities, as this could be unreported. There are many signs of abuse however, not all signs can be clear whether this is, a physical sign or simply acknowledgment that abuse is or has taken place. There can be many environments where abuse could take place for example: this could occur within a family home or possibly in a social circle. DA is purely not a temporary measure of abuse, in addition could not always effect one person furthermore, a simple remedy may not resolve abuse.
The guidelines outline that patients should be encouraged and supported about their health and use the information wisely to make decisions. Perhaps rather than encourage reporting with or without consent, a step to provide General Practitioners with additional tools to support domestic violence victims may have been a better option. The danger of implementing a reporting tool like this is that victims will withdraw completely and they will no longer feel completely safe to express themselves anywhere. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners provides clinical guidelines to assist General Practitioners when it comes to abuse and violence. General Practitioners are trained to handle and assist with domestic violence scenarios, imposing the question of non-consent reporting on delicate victims hinders General Practitioners rather than supporting
While most people blame victims, blaming traumatizes and discourages them to speak out and stand up against being victimised. “Maybe you did something wrong” or “It takes two to tango”; people say, but if the victim is at fault somewhere, violence is never a solution to anything. Stop justifying violence, stop blaming the victim and help them fight against it. Victim blaming also adds to the increase of most violent cases, which seek further resolving. Three ways that specialists discovered that people could stop domestic abuse are people should speak about it to someone.
Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes. First of all, the most important tool we have available against this type of crime are the authorities, which include the police department, hospital, and social workers. If they manage to work together as a team to make the whole process of protecting a victim more efficient, it will encourage victims to actually phone for help.
Domestic violence has its many tolls on women, especially from different age groups. Generally, domestic violence is prominent in early ages of relationships. People see on the latest headline of news articles stating “football player beats wife” or some other sort of wife-beating so they may get the perception that younger women occasionally deal with domestic violence.