- Email: [email protected]
Myles’ textbook for midwives
ARTICLE IN PRESS 74
HIV in pregnancy and childbirth Jane Kennedy (Ed.); Books for Midwives, 2nd edition, London, 139pp, 2003.
This book is timely in its new edition and is written by a midwife who specialises in caring for HIV positive women. She successfully sets out to explore, clearly and simply, some of the issues around HIV and its specific application to the care of pregnant and childbearing women, starting with general information on the virus, disease progression and global epidemiology. This is followed by chapters on how the virus is transmitted from mother to child and an especially valuable section on laboratory testing for HIV. The care of pregnant, labouring and breast feeding mothers and of the baby are detailed as well as discussion on the occupational implications for healthcare professionals who care for them. The debate is supported by up to date references to contemporary research and, throughout, the relevance to midwifery practice is explicit.
Book reviews
Finally, there is a short section on ‘‘personal perspectives’’ which I am sure would have been interesting but for a printing error resulting in blank pages, both here and in the following reference list, appendices of useful addresses and the index (sixteen pages blank in all). However, despite this irritation, the text is extremely useful to midwives working in areas where there are high incidences of HIV positive women and for those actively involved in antenatal care. I would recommend this as core reading for all students and midwives to inform and update them on one of the most significant contemporary issues in healthcare practice.
Denise Tiran School of Health and Social Care, University Of Greenwich, Honeycomb Building, Mansion Site, Avery Hill Campus, London SE9 2PQ, UK E-mail address: [email protected]
doi:10.1016/S1353-6117(03)00104-5
Myles’ textbook for midwives Diane Fraser and Margaret Cooper (Eds.); 14th Edition, Churchill Livingstone Edinburgh, 2003, 1089pp. The long-awaited 14th Edition of this classic midwifery textbook surpasses its previous reputation and should remain an essential purchase for all student midwives and those wishing to update. As with its competitors, Myles’ Textbook for Midwives covers the entire syllabus of the pre-registration midwifery programmes, with an obvious necessity to focus on factual information, especially in relation to the biological sciences. It is however refreshing to see the holistic approach taken up from the very beginning, with section one emphasising the psychosocial, cultural, ethical and historical perspectives of midwifery practice before proceeding to inevitable chapters on anatomy and physio-pathology. Chapters are written by midwives, obstetricians and other pertinent authors who are all specialists in their own fields, ensuring accurate, evidencebased, contemporary information and debate. Cross-references between authors and chapter subjects have been dealt with well by the editors. The final section on the Context of Midwifery Practice includes a conglomeration of topics which doi:10.1016/S1353-6117(03)00105-7
may have been difficult to place appropriately elsewhere, although I was disappointed to find my own chapter on Complementary and Alternative Medicine apparently relegated to the end of the book. Other subjects in this chapter are equally important and include pharmacology, public health, midwifery supervision, risk management and statistics, which could easily have been incorporated into the initial section on Midwifery issues. The book includes plenty of clear line diagrams, black and white photographs and a most welcome colour plate section, presumably merited by the size, cost and marketability of such a fundamental text. The only diagrams I disliked were those in Eileen Brayshaw’s chapter on exercises, as they had an ‘‘old fashioned’’ look, although, in fairness, they clearly demonstrated their intended purpose. Congratulations to the editors for successfully completing such a mammoth taskFthis textbook comes highly recommended. Denise Tiran School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich, Honeycomb Building, Mansion Site, Avery Hill Campus, Avery Hill Road, London SE9 2PQ, UK E-mail address: [email protected]
HIV in pregnancy and childbirth Jane Kennedy (Ed.); Books for Midwives, 2nd edition, London, 139pp, 2003.
This book is timely in its new edition and is written by a midwife who specialises in caring for HIV positive women. She successfully sets out to explore, clearly and simply, some of the issues around HIV and its specific application to the care of pregnant and childbearing women, starting with general information on the virus, disease progression and global epidemiology. This is followed by chapters on how the virus is transmitted from mother to child and an especially valuable section on laboratory testing for HIV. The care of pregnant, labouring and breast feeding mothers and of the baby are detailed as well as discussion on the occupational implications for healthcare professionals who care for them. The debate is supported by up to date references to contemporary research and, throughout, the relevance to midwifery practice is explicit.
Book reviews
Finally, there is a short section on ‘‘personal perspectives’’ which I am sure would have been interesting but for a printing error resulting in blank pages, both here and in the following reference list, appendices of useful addresses and the index (sixteen pages blank in all). However, despite this irritation, the text is extremely useful to midwives working in areas where there are high incidences of HIV positive women and for those actively involved in antenatal care. I would recommend this as core reading for all students and midwives to inform and update them on one of the most significant contemporary issues in healthcare practice.
Denise Tiran School of Health and Social Care, University Of Greenwich, Honeycomb Building, Mansion Site, Avery Hill Campus, London SE9 2PQ, UK E-mail address: [email protected]
doi:10.1016/S1353-6117(03)00104-5
Myles’ textbook for midwives Diane Fraser and Margaret Cooper (Eds.); 14th Edition, Churchill Livingstone Edinburgh, 2003, 1089pp. The long-awaited 14th Edition of this classic midwifery textbook surpasses its previous reputation and should remain an essential purchase for all student midwives and those wishing to update. As with its competitors, Myles’ Textbook for Midwives covers the entire syllabus of the pre-registration midwifery programmes, with an obvious necessity to focus on factual information, especially in relation to the biological sciences. It is however refreshing to see the holistic approach taken up from the very beginning, with section one emphasising the psychosocial, cultural, ethical and historical perspectives of midwifery practice before proceeding to inevitable chapters on anatomy and physio-pathology. Chapters are written by midwives, obstetricians and other pertinent authors who are all specialists in their own fields, ensuring accurate, evidencebased, contemporary information and debate. Cross-references between authors and chapter subjects have been dealt with well by the editors. The final section on the Context of Midwifery Practice includes a conglomeration of topics which doi:10.1016/S1353-6117(03)00105-7
may have been difficult to place appropriately elsewhere, although I was disappointed to find my own chapter on Complementary and Alternative Medicine apparently relegated to the end of the book. Other subjects in this chapter are equally important and include pharmacology, public health, midwifery supervision, risk management and statistics, which could easily have been incorporated into the initial section on Midwifery issues. The book includes plenty of clear line diagrams, black and white photographs and a most welcome colour plate section, presumably merited by the size, cost and marketability of such a fundamental text. The only diagrams I disliked were those in Eileen Brayshaw’s chapter on exercises, as they had an ‘‘old fashioned’’ look, although, in fairness, they clearly demonstrated their intended purpose. Congratulations to the editors for successfully completing such a mammoth taskFthis textbook comes highly recommended. Denise Tiran School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich, Honeycomb Building, Mansion Site, Avery Hill Campus, Avery Hill Road, London SE9 2PQ, UK E-mail address: [email protected]