Reflective essay sections
Public Health in Midwifery Reflective Essay Sample
A source-backed Gibbs reflection on developing a SIDS health-promotion poster in midwifery. It examines teamwork, communication, emotional responses, wider determinants of health, multi-agency working, the Health Belief Model and a future professional-development action plan.
This reader shows selected reflective essay sections from the sample. Use them to understand reflective structure, evidence use and academic style.
Reading sections
The sections below show the main reflective essay stages available for this sample.
Introduction and reflective framework
The essay positions public-health promotion as a core part of midwifery and introduces a reflection on developing a Sudden Infant Death Syndrome health-promotion poster. Gibbs’ reflective model provides the structure, allowing the writer to move through description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusions and an action plan rather than offering an unstructured account of the experience.
Description of the SIDS poster project
The project aims to communicate safe-sleep and SIDS-prevention information to families. The writer describes working with people contributing different skills, including content, visual design and project management. Workload had to be shared and technical problems had to be solved so that accurate health information could be communicated clearly in a visually usable poster.
Feelings during the project
The feelings stage records uncertainty at the beginning because of limited experience in health promotion and design. Confidence increased as the research developed and the poster took shape. The reflection also acknowledges frustration, time pressure and communication difficulties, using those emotions as evidence of where teamwork skills and personal confidence needed to improve.
Evaluation of teamwork and communication
The evaluation considers collaboration a major strength because team members could share knowledge and divide responsibilities, but it also identifies problems coordinating different schedules and maintaining clear communication. The writer concludes that future projects would benefit from clearer expectations, more structured meetings and better organisation of roles and responsibilities.
Social, cultural and economic influences on safe sleep
The reflection widens beyond the poster itself to consider the circumstances in which families make health decisions. Stress and mental wellbeing, cultural beliefs about sleeping arrangements, housing conditions, access to suitable sleep products and economic pressures can all influence whether safe-sleep advice is practical and acceptable for a family.
Political and service factors
The paper also considers how policy and healthcare access can influence SIDS prevention. Public-health education, maternal and infant healthcare, and access to appropriate resources shape the environment in which families make decisions. This develops the reflection from an individual behaviour issue into a wider public-health and service-delivery discussion.
Communication and cultural tailoring
In the analysis stage, effective communication becomes a central theme. The writer argues that health information has to be clear but also appropriate for the audience’s cultural and social context. A poster can support communication, but it cannot be assumed that the same images, language or presentation will work equally well for every family or community.
Multi-agency working and the Health Belief Model
The essay connects SIDS prevention with collaboration between healthcare professionals, community groups and policymakers. It also uses the Health Belief Model to explain how perceived risk, perceived benefit and barriers can shape safe-sleep behaviour. Together, these ideas show why effective promotion needs both coordinated services and an understanding of how people decide whether to act on advice.
Recommendations and action plan
The final reflection turns learning into future actions. Priorities include being more proactive in team communication, improving time management, strengthening health-promotion knowledge and developing greater cultural sensitivity when communicating with women and families. The action plan therefore links the poster exercise directly to future midwifery practice and professional development.