Love and Midwifery

This book argues that love underpins safe, effective, high quality, sustainable midwifery care, and enables readers to explore sustainable and compassionate ways to engage with their profession.

It is an essential read for all midwives from student to experienced practitioner, and the wider maternity care workforce.

Diane Ménage

Diane is a midwife with a life-long interest in women’s health and well-being. Throughout her career her focus has always been on providing individualised evidence-based care through relationships. As a midwife she has worked clinically in hospital settings, community midwifery and independent practice. She completed her PhD research on Women’s Lived Experience of Compassionate Midwifery at Coventry University (UK) in 2018. She has written extensively for midwifery journals, contributed to book chapters and she co-authored the textbook An Introduction to Research for Midwives, 4th Edition. Diane is a part-time lecturer in Midwifery at De Montfort University. In her role as a midwifery educator, she is passionate about embedding compassion and self-compassion into midwifery education.

Jenny Patterson

As a midwife since 2007, Jenny has worked within the UK NHS and independently. Jenny has a particular interest in traumatic birth experiences and Jenny’s PhD thesis explored Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in women post childbirth (PTSD-PC). Jenny has been part of an international group of midwives, midwifery researchers and lecturers that explored midwives’ needs regarding stress and trauma across the UK and Ireland. Following completion of trauma management training, Jenny has led workshops for women and midwives. Jenny has published several midwifery journal articles, contributed to a few book chapters and presented in the UK and Europe. Jenny currently lectures in midwifery at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, UK. Current research interests include exploring how maternity care providers and interpreters can best collaborate to provide high quality care for women whose first language is not that of the country in which they are receiving maternity care.