European Journal of Midwifery最新文献

Introduction: The profession of a midwife, despite its long tradition in Poland, is still not widely known in the society. Both in terms of the competencies and roles, it is often confused with other medical professions such as nurses or gynecologists. In this study, we assessed the knowledge of women in Poland on the profession of a midwife. The aim of the research project was to obtain detailed data on the knowledge of women regarding the specific professional competencies of midwives.

Methods: The study used the method of a cross-sectional survey. A survey of 1134 adult Polish women was conducted. A 20-item questionnaire was developed with fourteen of the questions being based on the midwife's professional competencies. The study was conducted in 2019 and the questionnaire was distributed through various social groups for Polish women.

Results: Knowledge about the professional competencies of midwives increases proportionally to the level of the education of the respondents, their age and the scope of cooperation with midwives. The most well-known forms of midwifery were those related to lactation education (78.7%) and puerperal care (78.9%). The lowest rates, among other results, were prescribing drugs (23.1%) and collecting samples for cervical cytology (24.4%).

Conclusions: The profession of a midwife in Poland is insufficiently popularized. Competencies shared with doctors require more dissemination. It is worth paying particular attention to the promotion of the profession in younger age groups, so that women can use their knowledge at subsequent stages of their lives.

Introduction: There have been significant changes in the work environment of midwives, such as the establishment of prenatal medical centers and shared wards for obstetrics and other departments. These changes in the work environment pose a psychological burden on midwives. Under these circumstances, the concept of work engagement is essential for overcoming the ensuing difficulties. However, no studies have yet investigated midwives working in prenatal medical centers in Japan. This study examined the factors affecting work engagement among midwives working in prenatal medical centers in Japan.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 498 midwives working at prenatal medical centers nationwide was conducted. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal-Wallis test, correlation analysis using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis as linear regression.

Results: The median of work engagement score was 3.00 (IQR: 2.40-3.60). The multiple linear regression analysis showed that professional identity (β=0.494, p<0.001), resilience (β=0.243, p<0.001), presence of in-hospital midwifery in the facility (β=0.138, p<0.011), and age (β=0.085, p=0.021) were significant. The adjusted R² value was 0.490 (p<0.001).

Conclusions: These results offer management insights into improving work engagement among midwives working in prenatal medical centers in Japan. The proposed measures include hospital/ward administrators establishing the professional identity of midwives and providing them with opportunities to demonstrate their expertise, for instance, within in-hospital midwifery systems at perinatal medical centers.

Significant attrition and projected workforce shortages within the midwifery profession are global issues. Extensive research has identified that high levels of workplace adversity, chronic stress, and increasing rates of vicarious trauma and moral injury experienced by midwives, underpin this situation. Researchers have explored midwives' intention to stay in the midwifery workforce and identified ways to support students' transition to professional practice. Supportive collegial relationships have been reported to be protective for new and early career midwives' well-being and resilience. However, there is a gap in knowledge and understanding of the impact and significance of professional connections and relationships for midwives across their careers. This article describes a protocol for a study designed to explore and understand how professional connections and relationships impact midwives' well-being and career sustainability. Glaserian Grounded Theory (GT) methodology will be used to conduct the study. Constant comparison will be used to analyze data collected from in-depth interviews with midwives at various stages in their professional careers, with the aim of understanding the significance of professional connections and relationships on their well-being and career sustainability, and in understanding the potential protections and benefits. It is anticipated that the findings and theory generated from this study will have national and international implications and provide evidence about the impacts, including benefits and any potential disadvantages, of professional relationships in sustaining midwifery careers. This will be of significant value to, as well as inform, the development of midwife retention strategies.

Introduction: Positive birth experiences can be a decisive factor in the well-being and future health of both women and their newborns. The quality of care is a multidimensional concept influenced by the external structure of the organization, the administrative qualities of the environment, and the individual patient's preferences about care. The aim was to describe women's preferences and experiences concerning support and treatment, and their perception of quality of care during all phases of labor and the postnatal period.

Methods: Free-text comments of 635 women from four different open comment questions were analyzed. A qualitative content analysis was conducted in two steps: an inductive phase followed by a deductive phase using the Quality of care from a Patient's Perspective framework (QPP).

Results: A total of 1148 free-text comments were coded; and 10 sub-categories were created and inserted under the QPP framework covering the latent meaning of the sub-category. Five of the sub-categories were sorted under the identity-oriented approach, four under physical-technical conditions, and one under the sociocultural atmosphere and reflected the women's experiences and needs regarding support and treatment during early labor, the active phase of labor, and the postnatal period.

Conclusions: High-quality care and support are important aspects for women during childbirth, irrespective of the phase of labor or postnatal period. The need for individualized care, active participation in one's own birth and using a family centered approach were also emphasized. Organizational factors influenced the quality of care and were particularly noticeable during birth.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.18332/ejm/173417.].

Introduction: Research shows that Somali women are less likely to receive epidural analgesia for labor pain compared to non-immigrant women in Norway. It is unclear why. This study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of Somali women regarding pain relief during childbirth.

Methods: In January 2023, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 Somali women who had lived in Norway for at least ten years and given birth within the past 12 months. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman.

Results: Three themes emerged from the data: a cultural understanding of epidural analgesia, religious and cultural coping strategies, and the midwife's role during labor. The participants expressed that there is a prevalent understanding in the Somali community that epidural analgesia in childbirth subsequently causes physical problems. Participants felt the influence of friends and family, expressed the need for culturally adapted information prior to labor, and concluded that, ultimately, what they decided upon was their own choice. They emphasized the belief that women were designed by God for childbirth. Prayer and placing oneself in God's hands were mentioned as pain management strategies. Nevertheless, the Somali women highlighted the importance of having a culturally competent midwife who is present when needed, creates trust, and provides information and access to different methods of pain relief, including epidural analgesia.

Conclusions: Understanding Somali women's cultural and religious background while listening to individual needs for information and pain relief is essential to ensure a positive birth experience for women from a Somali background.

Introduction: Breastfeeding to strengthen the immune system suggests allergy prevention as a possible option. The connection between breastfeeding and the development of atopic-allergic diseases is being discussed. The primary aim of this work was to investigate an association of the first early skin-to-skin contact following cesarean section with the development of atopic diseases within the 1st year of life.

Methods: The present study was conducted as a bicentric prospective cohort study in central Germany with a 15-month recruitment period. Data collection was by telephone interviews with a follow-up of 12 months. The statistical evaluation procedure was based on a hierarchical test of the association of early skin-to-skin contact between mother and child with the two main outcome measures. The primary outcome is the duration of breastfeeding. The second outcome is the onset of atopic-allergic disease within the 1st year of life.

Results: Mothers breastfed longer if they had skin-to-skin contact within the first 30 minutes postpartum [χ²(df=5) = 19.020, p=0.002], if they breastfed their newborns early immediately after birth (p<0.001), and if the first skin-to-skin contact lasted more than one hour [χ²(df=4) = 19.617, p<0.001]. Regarding atopic-allergic diseases, no significant effects of skin-to-skin contact were found in relation to disease development. Regarding breastfeeding, no significant effects of atopic-allergic diseases could be detected either.

Conclusions: The results of this study reflect the benefits of skin-to-skin contact in the context of breastfeeding and atopic disease. The current scientific knowledge regarding skin contact and the development of atopic-allergic diseases should be extended and deepened.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate a short educational intervention that focused on labor pain (through visual analogue scale, VAS), postpartum anxiety, and birthing experience before and during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study conducted between November 2019 and May 2021 in Brazil in 100 women with a high-risk pregnancy in the third trimester of pregnancy with an intervention group with in-person or virtual sessions (during the COVID-19 pandemic) and a non-intervention group. The antenatal intervention included breathing and relaxation techniques, upright positions, and information about labor. For evaluation, an antenatal questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and a postpartum questionnaire were used. For data analysis, Student's t-test, chi-squared and Fisher's exact tests, ANOVA, bivariate, and multivariate regression analysis, were used.

Results: When comparing the women in the intervention group to the non-intervention group, it was observed that the latter group reported higher fear of pain at labor during antenatal consultations (p<0.013); more women needed analgesia at 0-4 cm dilation (17/40) (p<0.018); the duration of labor was ≥12 hours (37/50) (p<0.037); while the intervention reported having a regular, good or excellent labor period (36/50) (p=0.014). The multiple regression analysis for labor pain showed a significant relationship between mode of delivery (cesarean delivery: RR; SE -21.43; 5.32, p<0.001) and labor pain, and good satisfaction with labor (RR; SE -13.86; 6.40, p=0.033).

Conclusions: Women from the intervention group had more satisfaction and less pain during labor than women from the non-intervention group.