Enhancing and developing leadership in midwifery
McCalmont, C.; Bailey, E.
Practising Midwife 19(2): 8-10
2016
ISSN/ISBN: 1461-3123 PMID: 27008753 Document Number: 689472
Leadership is a word often heard in any workplace, and healthcare services are no different. Much has been written about leadership styles and theories, with a search of one online retailer revealing 153,589 books available on the subject. How many midwives have those books on their shelves? In a time when maternity services are rising to meet new pressures and demands, many commentators are calling for leadership to drive the profession on. How do we, as midwives, reflect on our own leadership style and the impact it has on others? Here we discuss the importance of leadership in midwifery as a profession, and to individuals, regardless of grade or position. We use an example of a project within our service to illustrate the opportunities for leadership to flourish throughout a whole team in order to achieve an end goal.