Exploring midwifery prescribing in Australia

Background Midwifery prescribing was introduced in Australia in 2010 and is available to those notated as Medicare Eligible. Only 59% of Medicare Eligible midwives are endorsed prescribers. Aim To explore and describe Australian midwives views of prescribing including the barriers and enablers to prescribing. Methods Online survey. Eligible participants were Australian midwives who had completed an educational programme required for endorsement as a midwifery prescriber (n = 131). Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse the data set. Results Sixty-six midwives entered data (50% response rate). Twelve midwives (18%) had commenced prescribing. Prescribers agreed that being able to prescribe enhanced women's access to medicines and role satisfaction. The most common barriers to initiating prescribing were regulatory issues and processes, and no pathway to support midwifery prescribing in the public sector. The enabling factors most commonly reported were supportive relationships, education and personal factors such as motivation, knowledge and confidence. Conclusion Prescribing was viewed positively by midwives, but only a small proportion of suitably educated midwives were able to translate this into prescribing. Prolonged and complicated registration processes, restrictive drug formularies, and a lack of prescribing roles for public sector midwives were clear barriers. Supportive professional relationships, quality education and personal motivation and confidence assisted midwives in overcoming these barriers. Offering mentoring may help midwives to move into prescribing practice and use it in a manner that best meets the health needs of women and infants in midwifery care.