The Midwife and the Importance of the 5 P’s during Labour.
The Use of Positions during Labour and When Giving Birth

M.A. Muscalu

Rezumat: How important could be the midwife during labour? This is a question which demands a simple and quite intimate answer. A woman in labour needs emotional and physical support, supplied by a person qualified and fit to this task. The midwife has to display a humane profile and be able of adapting her/ himself to the pregnancy schedule of the subject/patient. Throughout time and out of experience we have learnt that birth is a normal, natural and healthy phenomenon. Women have to understand both intellectually and instinctively that they have the ability to give birth in the natural way, that they can move freely listening to their body and guided by what they feel, doing the right thing to do. Which are the 5 P’s? Traditionally the labour physiology relied on 4 P’s, namely: • Power (contractions, hydrostatic force); •Passage (bone pelvis, soft tissue); • Passenger (fetus, placenta); • Psyche (pain, anxiety). The 5th P has been identified as having a great influence upon the other 4, i.e.: the mother’s position (influences the intensity of contractions, the pelvis diameter, the position of the fetus, the anxiety level and the labour duration). The midwife is the person, who can advise and care for the pregnant woman throughout the entire pregnancy, during the birth process and over the subsequent period. She can promote various approaches/strategies in order to decrease both pain and discomfort during labour.
Cuvinte cheie: midwife, mother’s position, birth