Smooth Course of Delivery and Preparation for Child Care
25. September 2024Antenatal preparation is an important step for expectant mothers to support not only a smooth birth and six months of labour, but also the subsequent motherhood and childcare.
Therefore, the Institute of Health Sciences of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Technology in Zlín guides its students who are preparing for a career as midwives and assistants to actively work with pregnant women and teaches them how to properly conduct these preparation courses and how to work with women.
The main goal of the course is to inform the woman about the course of pregnancy, foetal development, proper lifestyle, appropriate physical activities, and the changes that pregnancy brings. It also provides women with information on the possibilities of psychophysical preparation in the last days before childbirth, the course of labour, non-pharmacological options to influence the course of labour and the perception of pain. It also teaches them how to breathe and push effectively during childbirth, proper breastfeeding techniques and how to care for the baby. As the course coordinator Mgr. Lenka Vrlová says, “through the course, the students are ultimately trying to strengthen the role of the partner, who nowadays commonly assists the partner in childbirth and becomes her important support.”
Equally important is the psychological attunement, the elimination of fear and anxiety. Pregnant women not only receive detailed information about what to expect during childbirth and the early postpartum period, but they also have the opportunity to practically try out a range of skills themselves.
This initiative is led by third-year students of the Midwifery degree programme. The planned psychosomatic preparation for expectant mothers took place over two sessions. On 16 April 2024, participants were guided through preparation for the antenatal period, the onset of labour, and the progress of labour through all its stages. On Tuesday, 23 April 2024, the focus shifted to the postnatal period, breastfeeding, and newborn care.