Data
Feasibility of a group supervision to support midwives providing mental care
2025 Volume 39 Issue 1 Pages 189-201
Details
2025 Volume 39 Issue 1 Pages 189-201
Objectives
The purpose of this study was to qualitatively evaluate the feasibility of a group supervision (GSV) program by a psychologist for midwives providing perinatal mental health care.
Method
In the GSV program of this study, the supervisees were midwives who belonged to a home nursing station and provided continuous support to women with mental health problems before and after childbirth. The GSV program consisted of one 30-minute meeting and three 90-minute GSV sessions. To assess feasibility, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the midwives and a psychologist. The interview guide focused on the achievement of the goals, acceptability, necessity, practicality, and feasibility of GSV. The researcher's observational data on GSV participation was also utilized as an adjunct. All data were analyzed qualitatively. St. Luke's International University research ethics review provided approval (23-A029).
Results
Participants included two midwives as supervisees and one supervising psychologist from one facility. These midwives evaluated the GSV as appropriate because: (1) They understood and were able to apply their knowledge and skills in perinatal mental health care in their clinical practice; (2) They gained a sense of psychological safety and experienced less difficulty, and (3) Group cohesiveness increased. Acceptability was also generally good, and although the participants felt nervous about the unfamiliar structure of GSV before starting, their resistance decreased as the sessions were repeated. Practicality was evident as both midwives and the psychologist were able to participate in the face-to-face meetings and all three GSVs. The same trend was observed for the psychologist.
Conclusion
The GSV program is highly feasible and has potential as a support method for midwives in charge of perinatal mental health care. In the future, it is necessary to reexamine how to expand the number of participants and how to increase the supervising psychologists' understanding of perinatal mental health.
