gms | German Medical Science

Background: The shortage of staff in German labour wards demands that research and employers focus on midwives’ job satisfaction. The current trial Be-Up (birth environment, upright position) by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg evaluates the effects of an environmentally re-conceptualized birthing room, which supports upright maternal positions and mobility on vaginal birth rates, on birth outcomes. Not only the mother and child, but also the employed midwives can benefit from the re-designed birthing room. The design stimulates the midwives’ autonomy and supports their empowerment in midwifery care and can therefore have a positive influence on job satisfaction.

Aim: The aim of the two doctoral theses at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg is the development and validation of a questionnaire measuring workplace related job satisfaction of midwives in birthing rooms. Moreover, the job satisfaction will be compared in hospitals taking part in the Be-Up trial and in hospitals of a control group.

Methods: Relevant factors related to midwives’ job satisfaction will be generated by a systematic literature research and explorative expert interviews. On the basis of two different samples these items will then be tested, selected and validated by means of a factor analysis. Subsequently, a (quantitative) cross-sectional survey will be conducted with the new developed questionnaire among the hospital employed midwives. The data will be statistically evaluated, the factors influencing job satisfaction determined and comparisons made between the two groups (alternative and conventional birthing room).

Results: It is assumed that the re-conceptualized birthing room has a positive impact on the autonomy and empowerment of the employed midwives leading to a higher level of job satisfaction compared to midwives who work in conventional birthing rooms. Furthermore, it is expected that working in the newly designed birthing rooms influences multiprofessional communication between midwives and obstetricians.

Relevance: The importance of constructing a special questionnaire for this area became evident after an initial literature search: There are numerous assessment instruments that measure job satisfaction, however, few of them are designed for a clinical working environment. Specifically, there is a lack of validated questionnaires in German language which are adapted to work conditions of midwives in hospital birthing rooms. In addition no instrument was found measuring job satisfaction among midwives and aspects of interior design in obstetric settings.

Conclusion: If the re-conceptualized birthing room has a significant influence on midwives’ job satisfaction, the concept may – besides promoting physiological birth – lead to an increased attractiveness of midwifery care. This may have a positive effect on the increasing shortage of staff in German labour wards. In addition to the improvement of birth outcomes, the retention of satisfied midwifery staff could be a further argument for implementing this project throughout German hospitals.

Ethics and conflicts of interest: A vote on ethics was obtained. The research was financed by own resources. There are no conflicts of interest.

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