gms | German Medical Science

Background: In caring for physiological pregnancies, midwife’s work is in accordance with those of doctors [1]. However, only few midwives are represented in this field of activity [2]. The configuration of basic training for midwives may be regarded as one possible aspect. In this context, medical impact is criticised, because the major part of practical training takes place in hospital. Furthermore, knowledge deficits of entrants are discussed due to the lack of unitary curricular [3]. This thesis aims to figure out the correlation between the configuration of basic midwifery training and midwife-led maternity care as a scope of action during the first year of work.

Method: Survey in terms of a cross-sectional study. For this purpose, an online questionnaire was sent to students from 57 vocational schools and two higher education institutions in their last year of basic training. Data processing was performed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics version 23.

Results: Altogether, 119 questionnaires out of a total of 130 questionnaires could be evaluated. Two criteria were considered for evaluation: Structural requirements for the basic midwifery training and subjective perceptions of own skills in midwife-led maternity care. The second criterion had no influence on the choice of primary fields of activity in the first year of work, but a correlation between structural circumstances of basic training and choice of primary field of activity could be determined. A significant correlation between the participation in a project called “students learning from pregnant women” and the decision of choosing midwife-led maternity care as primary field of activity in the first year of work could be identified, (χ² _{[2; N = 110]} = 7.395, p = .025).

In addition, a significant correlation between frequent observation sessions in midwife-led maternity care and the choice of this scope of action as the primary one during the first year of work was determined (95% KI -0.814; 16,11; p = .038).

Relevance: The results clarify the necessity of improvement in the configuration of curricula in the field of maternity care. Regarding this, e.g. deficits of the organisation of basic midwifery training were identified. The findings cannot be considered as representative. Statistical correlations could be presented merely descriptively due to limitations of quantitative survey as the chosen study design. It is impossible to assess whether causal relationships are involved only by regarding the selected data analysis.

Conclusion: For professionals in training, the contact to self-employed midwives, who work in the field of maternity care, is important for the posterior choice of maternity care as their own field of work. Midwives with a high level of working experience have an essential role according to the dissemination of competences and to an increase of interest in midwife-led maternity care [1]. Besides, an increased participation in midwife-led maternity care is supported by projects, such as “Students learning from pregnant women”.

Ethical criteria and conflict of interests: The research/project was not submitted to an ethics committee for the following reasons: According to the usual university procedures. It was financed from own resources. There is no conflict of interest.