gms | German Medical Science

Background: In Germany, the help of a midwife is to be made available to all pregnant women, parturient and women in childbed. This right to have midwife available is no longer nationwide possible due to lack of midwives. However, there are hardly any reliable figures so far.

Objective: To determine the data regarding the number and scope of services of the midwives in the city of Mainz and the district of Mainz-Bingen, a survey on the availability of midwives was carried out. The results were further analyzed in further parts and supplemented by a qualitative study on the workload of midwives.

Methology: Based on the study of the state association of midwives Baden-Wuerttemberg / University of Freiburg, freelance and employed midwives in Mainz and the district of Mainz-Bingen were interviewed in a survey on the scope of their midwife activity in the period from 03/22/2017-04/18/2017. The results were analyzed descriptively. In the further parts, selected variables were analyzed univariate and bivariate, and the aspect of the workload was examined by a group discussion.

Results: The descriptive data analysis showed that self-employed midwives in Mainz and in the district of Mainz-Bingen work comprehensively. The employed midwives are mainly active in the delivery room. While the number of weekly working hours is approximately the same in both areas, the employed midwives gave higher wages. High workloads and time deficit during care were mentioned as a burden. In contrast to poor satisfaction with income, satisfaction with the profession is very high. Irrespective of the type of professional practice, a reduction in working time or resignation from the activity as a midwife is the result. The univariate and bivariate analysis showed that a significant link between the age of midwives and satisfaction with income could be demonstrated. In addition, there was an increase in the number of self-employed midwives and a decrease in the number of employed midwives. No significant correlation was found between the age of the midwives and the satisfaction with the profession and the satisfaction with working time and the type of work.

In the qualitative section, it has been shown that midwives feel burdened by sociocultural factors, economic factors and professional factors. To reduce their workloads, they carried out changes in their working lives. In addition, solutions and actors were identified which could provide for a future relief.

Relevance: Data collection in Germany was improved by the surveys.

Recommendations: Further studies are necessary to provide more representative results. To be able to present reliable figures, a mandatory registration in an association would be necessary. Further questions from the survey are how the work situation can be improved at the city or district level and what needs to be done at the state or federal level. Furthermore, how stakeholders can be brought together to elaborate precise solution concepts and to establish them in the right places.

Ethical criteria and conflict of interests: The research / project was not submitted to an ethics committee for the following reasons: Research ethical principles were adhered to and the clientele were classified as not vulnerable. It was financed from own resources. There is no conflict of interest.

The PDF file of the poster submitted for the meeting is available in German as Attachment 1 [Attach. 1].