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Midwifing distress at end of life: Missed opportunities?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2013

Karen Fletcher*
Affiliation:
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Karen Fletcher, University of Manitoba, 479 Helen Glass Centre for Nursing, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada. E-mail: karen.fletcher@ad.umanitoba.ca

Extract

Birth and death are rites of passage, and preparation is important (Richards, 2007). Palliative care clinicians describe end of life as a meaningful stage of life filled with opportunity and mystery. However, in palliative care, we have a tendency to overlook dying as a means of spiritual awakening, and there is little understanding, and little or no demand, among palliative care patients, or in the broader culture, to learn the skills of dying.

Type
Essay/Personal Refelections
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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