Midwives’ views and experiences of maternity care during COVID-19 in Ireland: A qualitative descriptive study

IF 2.6 3区医学 Q1 NURSING

Midwifery Pub Date : 2025-04-24 DOI:10.1016/j.midw.2025.104428

Paula Barry , Sunita Panda , Deirdre O'Malley , Nora Vallejo , Hazel Cazzini , Valerie Smith

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Abstract

Objective

To explore and describe midwives’ views and experiences of maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study involving semi-structured interviews to gather data was undertaken. Interviews, which were held between September 2022 and January 2023, were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.

Setting & participants

The study setting was a large urban maternity unit (> 8000 births per year) in the Republic of Ireland. Midwives of any grade, who were involved in providing maternity care to women and their families in any area of the hospital during the pandemic were eligible for inclusion. Midwives were invited to take part via the hospital intranet and advertisements that were posted on notice boards throughout the study site.

Findings

Thirteen midwives took part in the study. Four major themes reflective of midwives’ views and experiences were identified. These were: ‘Ever-evolving goalposts’, ‘Feeling vulnerable’, ‘Changing relationships’ and ‘Challenges to the Philosophy of Midwifery’.

Key conclusions and implications for practice

This study highlights the need to consider the impact of COVID-19 on midwives and maternity services now and in the future. As a priority, embedding strategies to support midwives to regain and sustain psychological and physical well-being, are required. Attending to these factors may aid in sustainable retention of the midwifery workforce, and, ultimately, act as protective factors for crises that could emerge, potentially, in the future.

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爱尔兰助产士对 COVID-19 期间产妇护理的看法和经验：定性描述研究

目的探讨和描述爱尔兰新冠肺炎大流行期间助产士对产科护理的看法和经验。设计采用半结构化访谈的定性描述性研究来收集数据。采访于2022年9月至2023年1月期间进行，并进行了数字记录和逐字转录。采用主题分析法对数据进行分析。设置,研究背景是一个大型的城市产科单位(>；爱尔兰共和国每年有8000个新生儿)。在大流行期间在医院的任何区域参与为妇女及其家庭提供产科护理的任何级别的助产士都有资格纳入。助产士是通过医院内联网和张贴在整个研究站点公告栏上的广告被邀请参加的。13名助产士参与了这项研究。确定了反映助产士观点和经验的四个主要主题。这些分别是：“不断变化的门柱”、“感觉脆弱”、“变化的关系”和“助产士哲学的挑战”。本研究强调有必要考虑COVID-19现在和未来对助产士和孕产妇服务的影响。作为一项优先事项，需要制定战略，支持助产士恢复和维持心理和身体健康。注意这些因素可能有助于可持续地留住助产人员，并最终成为未来可能出现的危机的保护因素。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Midwifery 医学-护理

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

7.40%

发文量

221

审稿时长

13.4 weeks

期刊介绍： Midwifery publishes the latest peer reviewed international research to inform the safety, quality, outcomes and experiences of pregnancy, birth and maternity care for childbearing women, their babies and families. The journal’s publications support midwives and maternity care providers to explore and develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes informed by best available evidence. Midwifery provides an international, interdisciplinary forum for the publication, dissemination and discussion of advances in evidence, controversies and current research, and promotes continuing education through publication of systematic and other scholarly reviews and updates. Midwifery articles cover the cultural, clinical, psycho-social, sociological, epidemiological, education, managerial, workforce, organizational and technological areas of practice in preconception, maternal and infant care. The journal welcomes the highest quality scholarly research that employs rigorous methodology. Midwifery is a leading international journal in midwifery and maternal health with a current impact factor of 1.861 (© Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports 2016) and employs a double-blind peer review process.