Midwifery-Led Care and Practice: Promoting Maternal and Child Health

Dear Colleagues,

Despite continuous advances in medicine, healthcare and society, pregnancy and birth are often characterized by vulnerability. In developing countries (but also in industrialized countries such as the USA), reducing maternal and infant mortality remains a key challenge. Even in industrialized countries, pregnancy and birth outcomes are clearly dependent on the social status of pregnant women, recurring from different health literacy and different perceptions of health rights. This results in phases of vulnerability, which, according to study results, affect more than 30% of all pregnant women as distress with insufficiently understood long-term effects on the health of the mother and child (fetal programming). Continuous midwifery care, which is based on the principles of evidence-based care but follows a holistic approach that also emphasizes the social causes of illness and health, can mitigate social inequalities in care and improve short and long-term outcomes. Against this background, the WHO and UN have identified midwives as key actors in improving women's health.

The Special Issue aims to publish innovative midwifery care projects that focus on improving maternal and child health. We are pleased to invite you to submit relevant research results.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Research findings (including health service research) on innovations that improve care, even under complex conditions in individual phases of the care cycle (from pregnancy to breastfeeding);
• Research findings on midwife-led care to improve women's and children's health;
• Articles outlining women's health challenges in the context of pregnancy and childbirth;
• Studies and reviews on the promotion of physiological processes even under complex conditions;
• Research findings on the opportunities and risks of AI-based care in the context of midwifery science and women's health.

Thematically relevant studies from the field of teaching research are also welcome.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Joachim Graf
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• midwifery
• women’s health
• vulnerability in pregnancy
• midwife-led care
• fetal programming
• pregnancy outcomes in the context of social inequality
• improvement of child health
• improvement of women’s health
• gender-sensitive care