MIDIRS Essence > February 2009 > MIDIRS

Launching MIDIRS podcasts

Originally posted on Feb 2009

Delivering key information surrounding pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period at a time and place to suit you.

MIDIRS is pleased to announce the launch of a brand new podcast service for maternity health care professionals. This free resource replaces MIDIRS Webinars and aims to deliver the best maternity expertise to you, at a time and place which suits.

What is a podcast?

MIDIRS podcasts let you automatically receive the latest episode from your chosen category as soon as it's available by subscribing to the RSS feed. Choose from our existing range of audio and video podcasts to take on the move and listen wherever, and whenever, you like on your portable media player.

You can ‘subscribe’ to receive a podcast, rather like you might subscribe to a magazine and get it delivered each week. All of the MIDIRS podcasts are free, and you can stop receiving the files at any time you choose to. If you'd rather not subscribe, you can download episodes of a podcast series individually.

In order to subscribe to a podcast, you need an internet connection and a piece of podcast software which is usually available free of charge. Once you have installed this software, it will check MIDIRS for new episodes of your chosen podcast series and automatically download new episodes for you.

You can then listen to podcast episodes on your computer, or transfer them to a portable device, such as an MP3 player. To be able to listen to an episode, a media player and a piece of software that can play MP3 files is required. The operating system that controls the computer should come pre-loaded with a media player. Popular media players include Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, iTunes and Winamp.

Andy Fisher, MIDIRS Business Manager, said “Podcasting is a fantastic resource that is ideally suited to busy practitioners who need to keep themselves updated with the latest news surrounding their profession, yet who do not have sufficient time to do so. MIDIRS podcasts are designed to allow customers to automatically receive the latest news features and interviews surrounding maternity care, as soon as they are available”.

What is available?

Categories include antenatal, intrapartum, postnatal, neonatal, professional
practice, research and education, maternity services and miscellaneous and specialist topics. We have an extensive back catalogue of podcasts available from the MIDIRS archives and will be adding new ones all the time. Guest speakers have included Denis Walsh, Soo Downe, and Ina May Gaskin.

To launch our new service we have an excellent podcast from Dr Sara Wickham on the art of questioning! Sara is renowned for her inquisitive and critical approach to the consideration of various midwifery practices. Sara brings these skills to this podcast, as she helps us to consider the role of reflective practice and critical thinking in contemporary maternity care provision. Asking questions is fundamental to our daily practice and Sara demonstrates how questions are often posed while midwives work within multiple paradigms. For example, the obstetric (medical) model, where birth is only perceived as ‘normal’ in hindsight, compared to the midwifery (social) model of care with its strong focus on normality, in which pregnancy is viewed as an altered state of normal health.

What are we doing and why are we doing it? How can we view it differently and how can we improve things? If you feel the need to be inspired or re-enthused to challenge practice, then this podcast is an absolute must for you!

We hope that you enjoy our new podcast service as well as letting us know your thoughts through the reviewing facility.

Adam McGahern| IT Manager| MIDIRS

---

Your Comments

Have your say! Register now and post your comments on this article here.

Sorry, there are currently no comments for this article.