Early career midwives' experiences of development opportunities and their relation to retention and job satisfaction: an interpretative phenomenological analysis study.

Abstract

Background: Although continual professional development is required of all midwives, evidence suggests that a lack of opportunities to develop is contributing to midwives choosing to leave the profession. With a national shortage of midwives, it is imperative to explore factors relating to the retention and job satisfaction of midwives. This study explored the development opportunity experiences of Band 6 midwives, who make up over half of the United Kingdom midwifery workforce.

Methods: This study is aligned with interpretivism and the qualitative approach, embracing a relativist ontology and subjectivist epistemology. The chosen methodology was interpretative phenomenology and an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach was used. Seven Band 6 midwife participants, all early career midwives, were recruited from the study setting of NHS England using purposive non-probability sampling via professional networks. Data collection was performed using one-on-one in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using a seven-stage interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) process and six themes were interpreted and identified: Stagnation or Adventure, A Basic or Higher Need, Awareness and Access, Interpersonal Relationships, Overlooked, Development for the Individual and the Service.

Results: The early career Band 6 midwives perceived there to be few development opportunities, limited by a lack of awareness and access, and development opportunities were reported to strongly relate to the participants' job satisfaction and career progression. Participants discussed that their appraisals, their relationships with their managers or midwifery leaders, and their midwifery professional status were key factors affecting their access to development opportunities. Development opportunities were seen to be beneficial to the development of their own practice, the quality of their patients' care and the effectiveness of the wider maternity service.

Conclusions: Midwives are highly motivated by the prospect of accessing development opportunities for their personal and professional growth but also to improve the service they can provide birthing families. Meeting the 'development needs' of midwives could be seen not only as a way to advance the ability and capability of the workforce, but also improve job satisfaction, mitigate staff attrition and aid retention of skilled practitioners in the challenging context of United Kingdom maternity services. Further research on the experience, barriers, benefits and implementation of midwifery professional development should be considered.