A mother holding her newborn baby (credit: Olivia Anne Snyder on Unsplash). A traumatic birth experience affects one in three women who deliver a baby, yet what is less well-known is how midwives respond when it happens to them.
A new Southern Cross University study is seeking midwives for an online survey to understand how their own experience of a personal birth trauma impacts returning to the maternity workplace.
Lead researcher is PhD candidate Lisa Charmer, who is a registered midwife and course coordinator for the Bachelor of Midwifery at Southern Cross University. Her PhD research is entitled Exploring Midwives’ Experience of Primary Birth Trauma.
“There is acknowledgement of the impact of secondary trauma on midwives working with women who have less than an ideal birth,” said Ms Charmer.
“However, when her own baby’s birth is traumatic, very little is known about the impact on midwives’ general health and mental wellbeing as well as on her professional quality of life.”
Primary birth trauma is any perceived trauma experienced by a woman during the birth of her baby that lasts longer than the experience.
“Knowing that secondary trauma impacts at the level of the individual – in this case, midwives – the organisation and society, one can presume there may also be implications when it’s personal birth trauma,” Ms Charmer said.
“The study will investigate what support is offered to midwives who have experienced their own birth trauma and are returning to the maternity workplace.”
Ms Charmer noted that last year Safe Work Australia released a new code of practice that means employers need to protect workers’ mental health.
Study details
This research seeks to understand if having experienced birth trauma does, or does not, impact midwives’ professional quality of life and well-being.
The anonymous online survey will take approximately 20 minutes.
Survey link:
After completing the online survey, midwives can volunteer to participate in an interview.
Criteria:
- a Registered Midwife (Registered with AHPRA)
- at least 12 months since experiencing birth trauma
- has returned to work in the maternity setting
This research has been approved by the Human Ethics Committee at Southern Cross University, 2023/039.
