Safeguarding children

Safeguarding children is arguably one of the most challenging areas of the midwife's role. At a time when there is a national midwifery shortage and a rising birth rate, resources are stretched more than ever (Dabrowski 2016). Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility (Department for Education (DfE) 2015), but has become a much more significant part of the midwife's role and workload over recent years (Halsall and Marks-Moran 2014). Student midwives, newly qualified and experienced midwives alike must have the required level of understanding of the principles, processes and accompanying orders, to appropriately protect children (Griffiths 2009). This article explores safeguarding practice from a midwifery perspective, which includes looking again at the fundamental, basic principles of midwifery in order to advance practice further.