“Midwifery without Borders” – student conference on the Day of the Midwife

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Opening the conference held on the occasion of the Day of the Midwife, Dr. hab. Grażyna Bączek, Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Education and academic supervisor of the Midwifery Student Research Club emphasized the student-centered nature of the event. Both the organizers and many of the speakers (though not only them) were students from the Midwifery Student Research Club and the Ethics Student Research Club.

The event was attended by Dr. hab. Patryk Rzońca, Vice Dean acting as Head of the Faculty of Health Sciences, while the inaugural lecture was delivered by Dr. hab. Urszula Tataj-Puzyna, Professor at the Medical Center for Postgraduate Education. Professor Tataj-Puzyna spoke about how she learned to overcome her own limitations and conventional ways of thinking. She emphasized that midwifery is a profession that cannot be confined to a single definition, a single university, or even a single country. By its very nature, midwifery transcends boundaries: geographical, academic, and above all, human.

Student sessions

The first session was organized by the Midwifery Student Research Club and chaired by experts from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Education, who were also responsible for evaluating the presentations: Dr. hab. Justyna Teliga-Czajkowska, who is Vice Dean for Midwifery at the Faculty of Health Sciences of WUM, Dr. Agnieszka Iwan, and Dr. Anna Durka. During the session, attendees could listen to presentations by midwifery students on topics such as what working as a midwife in France looks like and the latest technologies connecting highly qualified midwives with women in need of obstetric care. 
The second session was chaired by Dr. hab. Łukasz Czyżewski, Vice Dean for Nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences of WUM, together with two experts from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Education, Dr. Sabina Stadnicka and Dr. Magdalena Krauze. It was organized by the Ethics Student Research Club, with support from Dr. Anna Łozińska-Czerniak from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Education. The session focused on challenges in midwifery practice, such as caring for women after miscarriage and building trust in the patient-midwife relationship. 
A poster session was also held. It was chaired by Dr. hab. Beata Sińska, Head of the Department of Human Nutrition; Dr. Zofia Sienkiewicz from the Department of Development of Nursing, Social and Medical Sciences; and Dr. Mariola Błachnio from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Education.

A midwife as a mentor to midwives

An important part of the conference was the session titled “A Midwife as a Mentor to Midwives,” chaired by Prof. Edyta Krzych-Fałta, Head of the Department of Nursing Propedeutics, together with Dr. Monika Salamończyk and Joanna Kowalczyk-Nowakowska from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Education. During this part of the conference, academic staff from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Education demonstrated how fascinating scientific work in midwifery can be. Dr. Hab. Ewa Rzońca offered guidance on where to find inspiration and the path from a research idea to implementation. Julia Klimanek spoke about her participation in the ICM Midwife Leaders’ Executive Sponsorship Programme mentoring initiative. Meanwhile, Agnieszka Wyrębek presented part of her research on tokophobia, the intense fear of pregnancy and childbirth. 

The conference was accompanied by workshops led by Aleksandra Wilczyńska and Joanna Gołębiewska, both from the Department of Gynecological and Obstetric Education, as well as Karolina Kosiacka from the Department of Emergency Medical Services.
 

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