gms | German Medical Science

Background: Previous studies have shown that midwives providing birth assistance in birth centres require a different set of skills than those providing care in hospitals, since each environment requires a different type of proficiency and has a distinctive approach to birth assistance. In Germany, when midwives commence work at birth centres directly after achieving state certification, they are often required by the birth centre to undergo a training period.

The implications of this training period are that newly certified midwives have not yet developed the skills to offer birth assistance without interventions. This issue extends to matters of patient rights and autonomy. According to § 24f of the German Social Code Book V, women have the right to choose the place where they give birth. In addition to this, patient rights granting autonomy entitle women to choose how they give birth. Patient autonomy, however, is only truly achievable if choices are available. These choices can only become available when midwives achieve a high level of skill acquisition in offering birth assistance without interventions.

Aim: The primary aim of this study is to explore and identify which skills and knowledge midwives acquire post-certification when they commence work at a free-standing birth centre.

Methods: The study is a hermeneutic phenomenological study located in an interpretivist position. The lived experiences of the phenomenon of skill acquisition in birth centres of midwives in their induction period and the teams that train them will be explored and described. The different methods of data collection include document analysis, focus groups, open-ended interviews, digital capture, journaling, and rapid ethnography.

Results: Data collection will begin in October 2021. The results presented at the conference will be from the preliminary data analysis of the focus groups with experienced midwives in birth centres. In addition to this, issues of recruitment for a national study will be discussed.

Relevancy: In the four-part Lancet Series focussed on midwifery, Renfrew et.al. wrote that the core characteristics of midwifery include: “optimising normal biological, psychological, social, and cultural processes of reproduction and early life.” To date, there has been no research specifically conducted to explore the knowledge and skills that midwives acquire in order to support women who are trying to achieve a physiological birth. There is also a dearth of research conducted at free-standing birth centres focusing on skill acquisition.

Recommendations/Conclusion: In order to provide the conditions for women to make choices, midwives must acquire skills to work in multiple settings. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap concerning the acquisition of midwifery skills at physiological births in birth centres.

Ethics and conflicts of interest: A vote on ethics was obtained. The research was supported by external funding. There are no conflicts of interest.