Decolonising midwifery education part 2: neonatal assessment

Summary

Assessment of the skin is an important element of neonatal examination. Midwives need to develop knowledge and skills in this area to recognise changes in the skin and understand what these signify. Historically, teaching in this area has been skewed towards changes seen in newborns with light skin tones, resulting in a gap in clinical knowledge and resources on the assessment of skin in newborns with darker skin tones.

This article, published in The Practising Midwife, on the decolonisation of midwifery education and practice, focuses on clinical assessment of the skin when examining newborns.