gms | German Medical Science

Background: The Master’s program “Midwifery and Women’s Health” at the University of Tübingen focuses on the further qualification of midwives as experts who possess in-depth personal and scientific competencies and are able to shape and develop challenges of a complex care practice interprofessional. The deepening of midwifery competences is considered in the module “Midwifery theory and innovative concepts of action” by identifying national and international midwifery theories as well as methods of developing midwifery theories and at the same time leading to the formation of a midwifery theory.

Aim: Adapted from the demands of quality midwifery care for women and newborns, the focus is on the formation of relevant, phenomenon-guided, and practical midwifery theories that focus on current profession-specific aspects such as social justice, gender medicine and women’s health, anti-racism, and ethical guidelines in midwifery care in a modern midwifery science.

Method: The theoretical approach to the concept of theory and its implicit characteristics is carried out in close reflection on the subject of midwifery, the role of midwives in the process of social change and given paradigms influencing midwifery. Furthermore, students elicit relevant phenomena of everyday midwifery work from the perspective of midwifery science, which they themselves consider significant. The basis for the development of a midwifery theory is provided by the approach according to Walker & Avant, to which the students are introduced both in the course of the lecture and in the subsequent seminar of the module on theory generation. In best practice, concept synthesis as well as theory synthesis are currently used as effective methods for theory generation.

Results: The following phenomena of everyday midwifery emerged and resulted in different theories: Risk orientation within prenatal care: midwifery care in pregnancy – contrasting the actual state with a target state; gender-sensitive and non-violent communication: midwives’ language and communication – creating free space for self-determination.

Other phenomena are being considered for elaboration: Communication in the delivery room and quality of care for childbearing women; Birth experience and satisfaction: women’s and midwives’ perspectives.

Relevance: In order to achieve the required level of competence of a midwife with a master’s degree with regard to the promotion and support of physiological processes and ethical decision-making in the context of pregnancy and birth, the examination and critical questioning of everyday midwifery from a midwifery science perspective is necessary. Generating a theory of midwifery implies a new evidence-based design framework for the profession of midwifery as well as interdisciplinary discussions and solution strategies.

Conclusion: The formation of a midwifery theory offers excellent starting points for the necessary reflection of a current midwifery practice and at the same time opens up new complex topics important for midwifery science, which also need to be addressed in an interdisciplinary approach.

Ethics and conflicts of interest: A vote on ethics was not necessary. The research was financed by own resources. There are no conflicts of interest.