Perspectives on Midwifery and Parenthood

lt;p> Rita Borg Xuereb, Ph.D., M.Sc., R.M., R.N., Dip. Educ. (Adult), PQDip. (Mid.Ed). is currently an Associate Professor of Midwifery with the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta. She worked as a nurse for several years prior to embarking on a midwifery career in 1988. Her midwifery practice spans over two decades where she practised in the antenatal, birth and the postnatal areas, including parentcraft/Antenatal Education services and the neonatal intensive care unit. She subsequently joined the University of Malta as an academic in 2002. She was the lead in the setting up of the Department of Midwifery, the Head of the Department (2009-2018). She was a Faculty Research Ethics Committee member (2015-2019); a member of the Council for Nursing and Midwives, Malta (previously the Nursing and Midwifery Board) representing midwives, (1991-2013), and former President of the Malta Midwives Association (2000-2007).

She was a member of the management committee for Malta to COST Action IS0907, Childbirth Cultures and Consequences: Creating a dynamic EU framework for optimally maternity care (2011-14) and the coordinator for Malta on the Babies Born Better survey (2014-2022).

She was also an elected Board member of the International Confederation of Midwives, ICM, representing Southern Europe, held the education portfolio for the ICM Board (2014-2020) and represented ICM on several important international fora, including, WHO, UNFPA, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation projects. Presently she is the chairperson of the Scientific Program Planning Committee of the ICM 33^rd Triennial Congress, 11-14 June 2023, Bali, Indonesia.

1. Midwifery and the Transition to Parenthood.- 2. Preparation for Parenthood.- 3. The Parental-Fetal Tie During Pregnancy.- 4. Well-Being and Early Motherhood.- 5. Midwifery and Perinatal Mental Health.- 6. Infertility, Repeated Loss, and Surrogacy.- 7. Supporting Early Parenting Following Preterm Birth.- 8. Adolescent Pregnancy and Early Parenting.- 9. Drug and Alcohol Use in Pregnancy and Early Parenthood.- 10. Violence, Abuse and Coercive Control in Pregnancy and Early Parenting.- 11. Migrants, Midwives, and the Transition to Parenthood.- 12. Midwives and the Transition to Fatherhood.- 13. Diversity of Family Formation: LGBTQ+ Parents.- 14. Spirituality and Spiritual Care in the Transition to Motherhood.- 15. Breastfeeding: Women's Experiences in the Transition to Motherhood.- 16. Perspectives on Midwifery and Parenthood.