Midwifery Working Practices

Thank you for visiting this website. This website has been created to share the findings of a PhD research project across a wide audience. The website provides an accessible summary of the results of an online survey that explored factors that might influence the emotional wellbeing of midwives who work in the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK).

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Why was the study needed?
The aim of sharing the findings in this format is to raise awareness of the impact of working practices (often modifiable) on the wellbeing of midwives, particularly as this may affect their ability to provide safe and effective care. Whilst the intended audience is aimed at midwifery staff groups, including its leaders, the findings may also be of interest or relevant for other healthcare professionals as the findings highlight how aspects of job design (the way in which healthcare professionals are expected to work) might have a negative impact on their wellbeing. Please click on any of the tabs on the side to read more about the research. If you wish, the last tab provides an opportunity for you to provide feedback on how useful you found being able to access and/or understand research findings when shared on a dedicated website, or any suggestions you have for future research. For those wishing to review formal publications related to this research, please click here for details.

Dent, J. (2020). Shift length and working practices in UK hospital settings: An online survey of heads of midwifery. Midwifery, 87, 102709-102709.

Dent, J., Smeeton, N., Whiting, L. & Watson, T. (2023). Exploring midwives’ emotional wellbeing: evaluation of a survey using cognitive interviews. British Journal of Midwifery, 31(5), 252-259.

Dent, J., Smeeton, N., Whiting, L. & Watson, T. (in press). The importance of recovery and staffing on midwives’ emotional wellbeing: a UK national survey. Midwifery. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2024.103961

Support for this project:
The University of Hertfordshire and The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) supported this project and outputs through an Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) grant. No funding for the survey was received as it was undertaken as part of a PhD project, supported by the University of Hertfordshire. UH ethical approval protocol no. HSK/SF/UH/05619

Details of the researchers:
Principal investigator: Dr Jackie Dent, Senior Midwifery Lecturer, University of Hertfordshire. Email: j.dent2@herts.ac.uk
Supervisors: Professor Tim Watson, Dr Lisa Whiting, Nigel Smeeton, Associate Professor Catherine Minns-Lowe, University of Hertfordshire

The impact of working practices on midwives’ emotional wellbeing

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