Facing Fear: A First-Year Student Midwife’s Perspective

Abstract

Fear. It is one of the most gripping and visceral of human emotions. But what place, if any, does fear have within maternity care? As a first-year student midwife, fear appears to be an overwhelming theme, splashed across newspaper headlines and hotly debated in lectures halls. This article aims to critically discuss sources of this fear, amongst users of maternity services and within the midwifery profession itself – and look to some of the solutions to overcome it. Professional midwifery stands at a crossroads, with global goals driving improvements in practice, while the complex challenge of fear threatens to cripple progress if not responded to with hope.