Perspectives on Midwifery and Parenthood

The chapters cover the transition and preparation for parenthood, midwives and parental-fetal-tie in pregnancy, perinatal mental health, maternal well-being, infertility, repeated loss and surrogacy, supporting early parenting following preterm birth, adolescent pregnancy and early parenthood, social challenges and parenthood including drug and alcohol use in pregnancy, intimate partners’ violence, migrants and transition to parenthood, fathers’ transition to parenthood, diversity of family formation - LGBTQ+ parents, breastfeeding, the role of spirituality during pregnancy, and midwifery and parenthood. Each person is unique and so is the response to parenthood, as the mother, father and family embark on this new lifeworld, a lifelong commitment. The book is a compendium of contemporary research depicting the strengths, opportunities, and recommendations how midwives and other health care professionals can nurture optimal, compassionate, respectful person- and family-centred care during pregnancy and early parenting, the transition to parenthood.