Speaker: Lynnelle Moran
Facilitator: Caitlin Goodwin
How do professional connections and relationships impact midwives wellbeing and career sustainability?
In this presentation, Lynnelle will share preliminary findings from her Grounded Theory study. How do professional connections and relationships impact midwives wellbeing and career sustainability?
Emerging findings highlight the importance, value and protective nature of professional connections for midwives, as well as the vulnerabilities that form in their absence. The data demonstrates that regardless of career stage, the strength of midwives relationships and connections is intrinsic to their sustainability and wellbeing.
Glaserian Grounded Theory was used in this study. In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 Midwives from across Australia to capture a depth of understanding of how collegial relationships impact across the career continuum.
Participants describe how the absence of connection in midwifery is taking a personal and professional toll, resulting in psychological and physical impacts such as feelings of disconnection, disillusionment, isolation, fear and dread, all of which have a strong correlation with absenteeism, reduction of shifts, and attrition.
In contrast, participants who experience a practice environment that supports and values professional connections and relationships reported high levels of professional satisfaction, collaborative interdisciplinary teams, role understanding, autonomy, trust and support to practice to their full midwifery scope, and to continue to develop professionally and explore diverse career paths in midwifery.
Conclusively, participants viewed relationships and connections as vital to their sustainability in midwifery and to their psychological and physical wellbeing. These emerging findings point to an urgent need to recognise and legitimise the importance of connection and professional relationships for midwives to sustain and thrive within the profession.
Speaker: Jessica Brumley
Facilitator: Caitlin Goodwin
Midwifery has played a critical role in maternal and newborn care throughout our history, yet its integration into the healthcare system has been marked by challenges and transformation. This presentation explores the historical trajectory of midwifery. The current landscape highlights a growing recognition of midwifery’s benefits, including improved maternal outcomes, reduced interventions, and enhanced patient-centered care. Despite this progress, barriers such as restrictive regulations, inconsistent legislative policies, and disparities in access persist.
Looking ahead, the future of midwifery integration depends on policy reform, interprofessional collaboration, and public awareness to strengthen midwives’ role in addressing the maternal health crisis. A strong professional association is critical in advancing the midwifery agenda and strengthening the profession.
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Speaker: Prima Kusrini and Karita Aulia Tama
Facilitator: Alifina Izza
Background: Adolescent pregnancy is a global health concern that affects the well-being of both mothers and newborns. Adolescent pregnancy is linked to risk factors that contribute to adverse pregnancy and perinatal outcomes.
Objective: This review aims to ascertain the factors contributing to adverse adolescent pregnancy outcomes.
Method: The primary databases for the review were PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct. From 2020 to 2024, 1103 papers were identified, of which 121 were chosen for full-text review after thoroughly screening and eliminating duplicates. Fifteen studies were included in the review.
Result: An analysis of fifteen articles indicated that adolescent pregnancy is substantially associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, affected by factors including inadequate education, psychological and social pressures, low socioeconomic status, poor nutritional health, harmful behaviors during pregnancy, an unfavorable social environment, and insufficient antenatal care. Improving primary health services for adolescent pregnancy is essential, including the delivery of early sexual education and contraception options.
Conclusion: Adolescent pregnancy is often associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Improving the use of adolescent maternal health services, along with the execution of focused sex education programs and contraceptive methods in families, educational institutions, and primary health care centers, is essential for reducing the incidence of adolescent pregnancies.
Key message: Adolescent pregnancy is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. By identifying the characteristics that lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes in teenagers, it is anticipated that health education can be delivered to both adolescents and their familial or social contexts to avert these problems.
Speaker: Jessie Johnson-Cash
Facilitator: Mutiara Dien Safitri
Background: Midwifery students juggle academic pressures, personal obligations, and the transition to clinical practice, often leading to burnout and stress. Activities that build resilience are beneficial in facilitating student engagement and promoting emotional wellbeing.
Objectives: This study evaluates the effectiveness of Student Midwife Support Circles (SMSC) as a co-curricular peer support activity, in building a sense of belonging and professional identity, and developing emotional wellbeing.
Methods: Participants were recruited from past and current midwifery students at a regional Australian university. A mixed-method approach used a cross-sectional online survey and individual interviews. Quantitative data (n=31) was reported as descriptives and compared based on attendance at the SMSCs. Qualitative data from both the survey (n=31) and interviews (n=3) was analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: Compared to students (n=9) who had not attended SMSCs, students who attended any number of SMSCs (n=22) reported greater compassion satisfaction and slightly higher self-efficacy. In addition, attendance significantly improved students’ views that support groups reduced stress whilst on placements, improved belonging to the profession and in becoming a better midwife, and increased student well-being. The thematic analysis confirmed these results, and the value of an academic run the support group.
Conclusions: Students who have been to any number of SMSCs have much more favourable views of the usefulness of these groups and there is some improvement in the satisfaction of care they provide and their confidence in dealing with challenges.
Speaker: Yvonne Meyer
Facilitator: Celine Lemay
Sages-femmes dans certaines publications. C’est le cas pour l’inscription de notre activité professionnelle au patrimoine immatériel UNESCO où, dans l’annonce en français, le mot sage-femme est absent du titre. Comment sont présentées les sages-femmes ailleurs ? Neuf documents ont été repérés qui ont pour titre l’art, les soins, la pratique, les sciences ou la profession de sage-femme. Les résumés de ces documents seront présentés, ainsi que l’analyse réalisée, basée sur les critères de soins centrés sur le patient (Rycroft-Maloine, 2004). Les résultats montrent que toutes ces formulations sont polysémiques et qu’elles n’ont pas exactement la même portée. Par contre, toutes présentent haut et fort les sages-femmes et ce qui les caractérise. Si UNESCO avait titré « Les soins de sage-femme : connaissances, savoir-faire et pratiques », les sages-femmes seraient visibles partout dans le monde francophone.
The theme of the intervention is motivated by a regrettable problem of visibility of midwives in certain publications. This is the case for the inclusion of our professional activity in UNESCO’s intangible heritage list, where, in the French announcement, the word sage-femme is absent from the title. How are midwives presented elsewhere? Nine documents have been identified that deal with the art, care, practice, science or profession of midwifery. Summaries of these documents will be presented, along with the analysis carried out, based on the criteria of patient-centred care (Rycroft-Maloine, 2004). The results show that all these formulations are polysemous and do not have exactly the same scope. However, they all make a strong case for midwives and what characterises them. If UNESCO had published the title « Les soins de sage-femme: connaissances, savoir-faire et pratiques » (‘Midwifery: knowledge, skills and practices’), midwives would be visible throughout the French-speaking world.
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