They therefore tried to be sensitive when raising issues of lifestyle and weight, and were careful not to blame the patients themselves.
That raises issues of judgement.
Paternity testing, however, also raises issues of consent and privacy.
Finally, the case also raises issues of responsibility and blame.
This reflected a reluctance to raise the issue of weight with parents and a lack of confidence in how to address it.
Consequently, the NHS and its workforce have a duty of care to sensitively raise the issue of weight, namely for those women with a BMI ≥30; discuss the risks and reassure, support women to manage and minimise risks.
We are very time limited but I don't think it takes long to raise the issue of weight so I think the main thing would be losing the patient trust and the patient's engagement".
Within this suite of documents guidance is specifically provided to help clinicians in raising the issue of weight with both adults and children, which our study identified as an important barrier to obesity management.
As such, nurse training should focus on further developing counselling and behaviour change skills such as reflective listening, motivational interviewing and goal setting to assist nurses in raising the issue of weight in a sensitive and non-judgemental manner.
These comments suggest more work needs to be done to overcome social barriers which affect midwives' confidence in raising the issue of weight and discussing its implications with women in their care.
