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The Roar Behind the Silence: Why kindness, compassion and respect matter in maternity care
For many years there has been growing concern about the culture of fear that is penetrating maternity services throughout the world, and that the fear felt by maternity care workers is directly and indirectly being transferred to the women and families they serve.
The consequences of fear include increased risk of defensive practice, where the childbearing woman and her family become potential enemies to those providing her care. In addition, the prevailing risk management and 'tick box’ culture in maternity services encourages maternity workers to give priority to the records instead of the woman. These factors contribute to the dissatisfaction felt by those using and providing maternity services. There is however increasing evidence that kindness, compassion and mutual respect improve efficiency, effectiveness, experience and staff morale within healthcare settings.
The Roar Behind the Silence provides information, inspiration and practical suggestions to support maternity care workers, policy makers, and maternity care funders across the world in their quest to deliver sensitive, compassionate and high quality maternity services. The book highlights examples of good practice, and offers practical tools for making change happen, using evidence and stories where appropriate
The consequences of fear include increased risk of defensive practice, where the childbearing woman and her family become potential enemies to those providing her care. In addition, the prevailing risk management and 'tick box’ culture in maternity services encourages maternity workers to give priority to the records instead of the woman. These factors contribute to the dissatisfaction felt by those using and providing maternity services. There is however increasing evidence that kindness, compassion and mutual respect improve efficiency, effectiveness, experience and staff morale within healthcare settings.
The Roar Behind the Silence provides information, inspiration and practical suggestions to support maternity care workers, policy makers, and maternity care funders across the world in their quest to deliver sensitive, compassionate and high quality maternity services. The book highlights examples of good practice, and offers practical tools for making change happen, using evidence and stories where appropriate
- GenresMedicalNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published February 22, 2015
49 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 16, 2018
Such a brilliant book. Every NHS worker should read this. I am registered as a nurse rather than a midwife, although also work in maternity - and I got so much from this book - if each one of us applied these rules every day throughout the NHS, it would change. We would see better staffing, lower staff turnover, better patient outcomes, and would do all of that whilst being more cost-effective. If you’re an NHS clinician and you’re feeling exhausted, shattered, and broken down (like many of us are) please read this. It has certainly helped me see the light and love in what I do again, when I didn’t think I could get there again.
January 28, 2016
What a fantastic book! Jut goes to show the importance of compassion and respect in care and the difference it can make. Feeling very inspired right now!
July 31, 2017
I understand what they were trying to do with this book, and their aim was very good and noble - but I'm not sure it hit the mark. The book just told me over and over again what I already knew: that compassion in maternity care is very important, costs nothing, improves outcomes, and improves the experience of both the woman and the midwife. Just that same message in every single chapter. I found it a bit of a slog to read, took many months to finally get it finished, because it just didn't draw me in with many new insights at all. It may be valuable to occasionally read a random chapter over the next ten years or so, to keep compassion at the forefront of my practice, but other than that, I can't say this book has been of any use to me.
July 21, 2019
I won this book in an Instagram-contest on what the meaning of the midwife-mother relationship truly means. I must say that this book of kindness in maternity care is so kind it lifted me up and gave me such happy spirits!
I started reading this book whenever I was attending a birth, waiting for the contractions to strengthen or for the waters to break. In the middle of the night I sat reading, beside a birthing pool or in a little corner in the master bedroom. Some of these births had tested my patience, some of these people had made me feel just a little more tired than I already was. Until I started reading the book, truly reading it, and put the written words into action.
By adapting the theories and stories to my own practice, it made me a little kinder, a little more compassionate, and a lot more resilient. If this book can make such a seemingly small yet inevitably big difference on me as a person, as a midwife, I can only imagine what it could do if every maternity care worker would read this. I would suggest this to be mandatory reading in all universities/colleges educating (future) maternity care workers!
I started reading this book whenever I was attending a birth, waiting for the contractions to strengthen or for the waters to break. In the middle of the night I sat reading, beside a birthing pool or in a little corner in the master bedroom. Some of these births had tested my patience, some of these people had made me feel just a little more tired than I already was. Until I started reading the book, truly reading it, and put the written words into action.
By adapting the theories and stories to my own practice, it made me a little kinder, a little more compassionate, and a lot more resilient. If this book can make such a seemingly small yet inevitably big difference on me as a person, as a midwife, I can only imagine what it could do if every maternity care worker would read this. I would suggest this to be mandatory reading in all universities/colleges educating (future) maternity care workers!
February 26, 2017
I read this book - one chapter each morning - before going to work as a lactation consultant on a post-natal ward. A little like putting on armour before battle. The book is essentially a collection of articles by many different authors, mostly health professionals who, like me, feel strongly about "being nice" when looking after mums and bubs. Isn't that why we got into the job in the first place? ! The system has a subtle yet pervasive way of eroding this niceness. Pressures of time, shortage of staff, rigidities of guidelines and policies, lack of continuity of care all contribute to a dehumanised approach to what is supposed to be one of the highlights of a woman's life. Women deserve better. Midwives deserve better. Yet we are trapped with feelings of hopelessness. Unheard. I love the title of the book because its apt. There is a silence. There are looks among staff, eye-rolls, exasperated sighs but often with a resignation "it is what it is!". Hearing these voices within these articles felt like being heard. Someone understands the frustration - its not just me!
This book highlights issues that are important to me and often unspoken; the issue of informed choice (embracing the concept of woman's autonomy - the removing of the word "allow" from our dialogue.); the separation of mothers and babies; mindfulness; mammalian birth; and practical tips on resilience for health care workers. Maternity care has become such a task oriented profession where connection is lost amongst the paperwork. This book gives me hope that perhaps it is possible to retain that essence - the kindness, the compassion and respect - while working in the current maternity system
This book highlights issues that are important to me and often unspoken; the issue of informed choice (embracing the concept of woman's autonomy - the removing of the word "allow" from our dialogue.); the separation of mothers and babies; mindfulness; mammalian birth; and practical tips on resilience for health care workers. Maternity care has become such a task oriented profession where connection is lost amongst the paperwork. This book gives me hope that perhaps it is possible to retain that essence - the kindness, the compassion and respect - while working in the current maternity system
December 28, 2015
Wonderful for midwife advocates. Puts emphasis on compassionate care in midwifery and lends itself to thinking about your own midwifery practices. It's critical about current practices and difficulties with midwifery in contemporary society. Food for thought
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews