Midwife’s experience regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing

—Focusing on midwife’s views and abilities to assist in birthing after returning to work—

Abstract

The present study aimed to identify changes that pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing experiences have on midwifery views and midwifery support after midwives return to work, and to use the findings as a resource for creating a return-to-work program. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using semi-structured interviews of 10 midwives who returned to work at University A Affiliated Hospital after their maternity leave. The study was conducted upon receiving approval from the ethics committee at Showa University’s School of Nursing and Rehabilitation Sciences. The study period was from March to July 2018. A total of 24 codes, 12 subcategories and the following categories were extracted: “understanding the feelings of the clients”, “midwifery support during child delivery”, “beliefs of midwives towards breastfeeding”, “improvement in breastfeeding guidance based on their own experiences”, “increased motivation towards breastfeeding” and “feelings towards the midwife profession”. Reliving the experiences of pregnant and postpartum women and a positive interpretation of their childbirth experiences allowed the midwives to have a deeper understanding of their clients. Experiencing breastfeeding and having an awareness of the need for midwives reinforced their feelings toward breastfeeding, and the methods for providing midwifery support changed in many ways. Furthermore, changes in working conditions after returning to work gave rise to a desire to learn about new fields, while their existing professional identities of midwives were heightened. Individualized strategies that balance child-rearing and work, boost self-efficacy, and develop one’s career need to be considered.