In 1946 the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being". This definition integrates major health concepts and identifies that health can be viewed differently by individuals and groups (Bowden, 2006). Health and well-being are a combination of physical, social, intellectual and emotional factors (Dunkley,2000). The concept of health promotion emerged with the growing awareness that our health is one of our most precious personal assets. The Health Promotion Agency (2008) describes health promotion as a process that enables people to exercise control over the determinants of health and thereby improve their health. Similarly, WHO identifies that health promotion involves empowering people, allowing them to make choices regarding improving their well-being (WHO). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Ewles and Simnett (2003) determine from this that the fundamental elements of health promotion are health improvement, empowerment and education. Health promotion is not an extended role of the midwife but a fundamental competence. In its code of professional conduct (2008), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) outlines the role of the midwife to include supporting women in caring for themselves to improve and maintain their health. Davis (2002) highlights that every interaction with a woman is an opportunity to improve long-term health as midwives are considered authoritative figures in the provision of health promotion. The Royal College of Midwives' 'Vision 2000' describes the midwife as a public health professional and relevant models and approaches can improve the way midwives provide care. A health promotion approach can be described as the vehicle used to achieve the desired goal (Dunkley-Bent, 2004). This essay will focus on the application of Beatties' (1991) health promotion model to breastfeeding; analyzes the challenges that midwives may face in promoting breastfeeding and general health promotion and evaluates the effectiveness of the midwife in promoting breastfeeding. The word “midwife” simply means “with women” (Alberta Association of Midwives 2012). According to the Council of the International Confederation of Midwives (2005), the midwife is a qualified, conscientious and responsible specialist in "normal" pregnancy and childbirth. They work in 'partnership' with the woman, her partner and family to offer the vital care, support and advice needed during the antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods to independently guide women through the pregnancy and birth process and provide assistance to both of you and the child. newborn. The midwife's job includes supporting and encouraging normal childbirth, identifying complications with the pregnancy, and performing emergency procedures. Midwives play a significant and vital role in providing health advice and education which should include antenatal education not only with women but with family, network and the wider community. The role of midwives is to promote the health and well-being of women and their babies (NMC, 2008). Health promotion, as described by Scriven (2010), is said to mean “improving, advancing, supporting, encouraging and placing health higher on the personal and public agenda”. Midwives use models andhealth promotion approaches to enable a common value to be made clear; allow all team members to work towards the same goal. As a result, effective communication between midwives is more likely, and therefore the quality of health promotion offered to women is improved (Bowden 2006). Commonly, the Tannahill health promotion model, developed by Downie et al (1996), lends itself well to midwifery practice. The model mainly focuses on health education, health protection and disease prevention. These three main topics overlap; in which health promoting activities may decrease. Childhood vaccination programs implemented by the National Health Service are an example of health protection that overlaps with disease prevention that occurs in practice (Bowden 2006). This example underlines the positive characteristic of the model; be able to achieve both the goals of improving health and preventing disease (Sykes 2007). In this model, the educational approach is often used whereby the midwife provides facts and information to women who can then choose to act or not act on the information provided (Bowden 2006). Similarly, the behavior change approach is commonly used in midwifery to encourage women to change their attitudes or beliefs to adopt a healthier lifestyle (Bowden 2006). There are many approaches and models of health promotion. However, no specific model is relevant for every woman. Each woman will have individual needs and therefore requires individual assessment in relation to health promotion. Health promotion is an essential part of the midwife's responsibility; “The nature of health promotion work in midwifery is geared towards promoting maternal health and ensuring an optimal environment for mother and baby” (Dunkley, 2000). Breastfeeding can be a controversial topic; can lead to conflicting opinions and responses from mothers and midwives. The reason for promoting breastfeeding is that, in addition to being economically advantageous, it also brings many benefits to the baby and the mother (Dunkley,2000). Health promotion is predominantly a proactive process. It is a process that is carried out with people and not between people, both on an individual basis and within groups. Participation and partnership are key components of the process. Beattie's model is appropriate as it provides a structured framework to guide, map and contextualise breastfeeding-related health promotion intervention (Seedhouse,2003). Beattie's (1991) has two dimensions; “intervention methods” and “intervention focus”. The “intervention modality ranges from the authoritative one, which is top-down and guided by experts, to the negotiation one, which is bottom-up and enhances the autonomy of the individual. The “intervention focus” varies from a focus on the individual to a focus on the collective. The model uses these dimensions to generate four strategies for health promotion: health persuasion, legislative action, personal counseling, and community development (Tonnes and Tilford, 2001). ). The health persuasion technique uses medical and educational approaches to inform women about the research-based health benefits of breastfeeding. This intervention is top-down, directed at individual women and conducted by midwives as health experts (Perkins,1999). It relies on persuasive tactics to ensure compliance. Being medically based, it aims to reduce mortality and is conceptualized around the absence of disease. Because midwives don'tconsider pregnancy and childbirth as states of ill health, its validity in obstetric care must be questioned (Dunkley,2000). The benefits of breastfeeding are well documented; however, difficulties arise in making this information relevant and personal to each woman's "information." According to Condliffe (2005) midwives reported a lack of confidence in midwifery practice, but Mezey and Laazenbatt (2009) stated that this was due to concerns related to a lack of experience on the relevant topic and discussion. (……1). It would appear that the challenge for midwives is to have time and resources readily available. Positive messages about breastfeeding should be evident in the midwives' practice room (Ewles and Simnett, 2003). Literature and posters promoting breastfeeding can be prominently displayed. All magazines and literature in the waiting room can be examined to ensure there are no unwanted advertisements or promotions of infant formula. Health persuasion assumes that women make rational, informed decisions about how to eat in response to factual health-related information (Crater, 2002). ). Personal attitudes will influence the woman's decision more than anything else; and changing beliefs, values ​​and attitudes is difficult and requires more time, resources and dedication than most midwives, due to work overload. According to Crossland (2015), said that breastfeeding is free and other health incentives could be spent on other bad health choices, but Whelan (2014) said that breastfeeding needs all the support it can get so that midwives can encourage this in their practice. . It is important in the midwifery profession that a model of continuity of care is adopted as this encourages the development of a close professional relationship between the midwife and the woman throughout the birth process. Continuity of care allows the midwife to provide tailored personal care. to the needs of the woman and her family with the ability to address any further complications or problems that may arise, improving both the quality of her care and her birth experience. Continuity of Care is advantageous as it can be provided in a wide variety of contexts, both formal and informal, in order to put the woman at ease, making her feel more at ease. (Pairman, et al 2010) The midwife must be aware of all aspects relevant to the culture of the woman she is assisting. A barrier that may exist within the Midwife-Woman partnership may be age. Another observation that may need to be noted regarding cultural sensitivity includes ethnicity. This should be allowed unless there is a clinical reason forbidding it. (Handbook for health professionals, 2010). Birth is universal for all women; however, the experience differs in many cultures as births are considered sacred events in many countries (Robinson & Thomson2009,p142). There are dangers if the midwife is not aware of or does not understand a culture, the most serious being stereotyping people when a culture is assumed to cause all members of the cultural group to think, feel and behave in a certain way. (Bowden and Manning 2006). The relationship between the Midwife-Woman partnership differs within our culture as our upbringing, education, experiences, location and our general way of life impact us all differently. The role and responsibility of the midwife is to work with a practice basedon evidence “with evidence-based practice” with effective communication to provide advice, support, encouragement and education to facilitate a woman's ability to breastfeed (Johnson and Taylor,2006). Support during pregnancy can have a lasting effect, regardless of the scale of the task. A good example of this is the role of midwives in promoting health and supporting women in feeding their babies (Crafter, 1997). When a woman needs more general sources of advice and social support than those provided through maternity services, midwives still play a key role in providing relevant information and advice and referring her to other professionals and organizations for support. (Cooper and Fraser 2003). If the chosen method of feeding a baby is breastfeeding, a mother should expect midwives to assist her in attaching the baby and in the correct way so that it is not painful or uncomfortable for the mother. Woman-centred care forms the overarching framework of the National Competency Standards for Midwives (2006). Woman-centered care is a concept that implies that obstetric care is focused on the individual and unique needs, expectations and aspirations of the woman, rather than on the needs of institutions or professions. Recognizes a woman's right to self-determination in terms of choice, control, and continuity of care embraces the needs of the child, the woman's family, significant others and the community, as identified and negotiated by the woman herself follows the woman between institutions and the community, through all phases of pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period is 'holistic' addressing the socio-emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual aspects of women and cultural needs and expectations (ANMC, 2006). By adhering to the rules, standards and guidelines, the midwife can ensure that the care provided is of the highest standard. Midwives understand that each woman is an individual and that her needs are assessed on an individual basis, with a caring and non-judgmental nature. Ewles and Simnett (1999) list the following activities that could be seen as health promotion practices; Mass media advertising, campaigns on health issues, patient education, self-help groups, environmental safety measures, public policy issues, health education on physical health, preventive medical procedures, codes of conduct on health issues, facilities for improving health in local communities, workplaces, health policies and health and social education of young people in schools. Ewles and Simnett (2003) also identify approaches to health promotion. All of these stem from a series of goals that hope to be achieved. They point out that no one goal or approach to health promotion is right, but that it is important for us, as health professionals, to consider which is appropriate for us and relevant to our work. However, one of the most important factors is to educate people, to enable them to make informed and healthy choices according to… In conclusion, the RCM Vision 2000 describes the midwife as a public health professional. Midwives have always valorised, facilitated and supported factors that promote the physical health, psychological, social and spiritual well-being of women and their closest family members. Some of the key points that should be considered for the future of midwifery health promotion practice are that it needs to be clearly defined, "national and political recognition of the midwife's contribution to public health should be improved and midwives should promote the Health..