Rural Australian Doctors’ Views About Midwifery and Midwifery Models of Care: A Qualitative Study

Siubhan McCaffery; Kirsten Small; Jenny Gamble

doi:10.1891/IJC-2021-0007

Rural Australian Doctors’ Views About Midwifery and Midwifery Models of Care: A Qualitative Study

Siubhan McCaffery
, Kirsten Small
, Jenny Gamble

Griffith University
Grafton Base Hospital
Transforming Maternity Care Collaborative

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

90 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Australian rural areas access to midwifery continuity of carer models is restricted. Lack of medical support has been identified as one of the reasons midwifery continuity of carer models have not been implemented. The purpose of his study was to explore rural Australian doctors’ views about midwifery and midwifery continuity of carer models. STUDY DESIGN: A qualitative study with general practitioner and specialist obstetricians (n = 10) working in Australian rural maternity services. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken and analyzed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: Participants’ views of midwifery and midwifery continuity of carer models were expressed in three themes. The themes related to the concepts of knowing: knowing the model, knowing the midwife, and knowing the system. Participants had misconceptions and misunderstandings of the model, midwifery, and systems issues relating to midwifery continuity of carer models. CONCLUSION: Increasing understanding about midwifery and midwifery continuity of carer models may facilitate implementation of these models. A national education program for doctors about the structure and function of midwifery continuity of carer models would support knowledge building for obstetric doctors. Strong leadership and incentivization for health services may be needed to sustainably roll-out rural models. At a service level, responsibility for establishing and sustaining models should shift from local midwife leaders to hospital executives.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	34-43
Number of pages	10
Journal	International Journal of Childbirth
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1891/IJC-2021-0007
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

This document is the author’s post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.

Keywords

continuity of carer
general practitioner
midwife
obstetricians
rural
views

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Maternity and Midwifery

Access to Document

10.1891/IJC-2021-0007

Post-PrintAccepted author manuscript, 1.29 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Rural Australian Doctors{\textquoteright} Views About Midwifery and Midwifery Models of Care: A Qualitative Study",

abstract = "BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Australian rural areas access to midwifery continuity of carer models is restricted. Lack of medical support has been identified as one of the reasons midwifery continuity of carer models have not been implemented. The purpose of his study was to explore rural Australian doctors{\textquoteright} views about midwifery and midwifery continuity of carer models. STUDY DESIGN: A qualitative study with general practitioner and specialist obstetricians (n = 10) working in Australian rural maternity services. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken and analyzed using thematic analysis. FINDINGS: Participants{\textquoteright} views of midwifery and midwifery continuity of carer models were expressed in three themes. The themes related to the concepts of knowing: knowing the model, knowing the midwife, and knowing the system. Participants had misconceptions and misunderstandings of the model, midwifery, and systems issues relating to midwifery continuity of carer models. CONCLUSION: Increasing understanding about midwifery and midwifery continuity of carer models may facilitate implementation of these models. A national education program for doctors about the structure and function of midwifery continuity of carer models would support knowledge building for obstetric doctors. Strong leadership and incentivization for health services may be needed to sustainably roll-out rural models. At a service level, responsibility for establishing and sustaining models should shift from local midwife leaders to hospital executives.",

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Rural Australian Doctors’ Views About Midwifery and Midwifery Models of Care: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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