Work situation and professional role for midwives at a labour ward, pre and post the introduction of a midwifery model of care.

• Background: The work situation for midwives in different countries is related to high levels of stress, burnout and heavy work load. One aspect of the professional role of midwives is woman-centeredness, theoretically described in midwifery models of care. However, no studies are found about the outcome for midwives work related to midwifery models of care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore and analyse the experience of work situation and professional role for midwives at a labour ward, pre and post the introduction of a midwifery model of care (MiMo). Methods: A simultaneous qualitative and quantitative mixed method approach was used in this longitudinal study. The core component comprised of a qualitative inductive secondary content analysis of three focus group interviews with 16 midwives exploring how midwives experienced and described their work situation and professional role pre and post implementation of MiMo. The supplemental component were a quantitative survey analysis of the work situation for midwives (n=58) pre and post the intervention, and the deductive analysis was driven by the qualitative result. Findings: The qualitative core component consisted of the concepts Balance between Women and Organisation, Midwives - Diverse as both Profession and Person and Strained Work Situation pre intervention. Post intervention Balance between Midwifery and Organisation, Midwives - An Adaptable Profession, Strained Work Situation and lastly a new category Ability to concretise midwifery emerged. The quantitative items that had corresponding measures connected to the qualitative categories were analysed. There were no significant differences in any of the quantitative analyses pre and post the introduction of MiMo. Conclusion: Working according to MiMo appears not to have any effect on the strained work situation in midwives, in the context and with the measurements studied here. Although MiMo contributed to raise awareness of the professional role.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Reproduktionsmedicin och gynekologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Work situation; Midwifery; Professional role; MiMo

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)