Health professionals’ perceptions of a midwifery model of woman-centred care implemented on a hospital labour ward

Abstract

Background: Theoretical models as a basis for midwives’ care have been developed over recent decades. Although there are similarities between these models, their usefulness in practice needs to be researched in specific cultural contexts. Aim: To explore whether, when adopted by midwives on labour wards, a midwifery model of woman-centred care (MiMo) was useful in practice from the viewpoint of a variety of health professionals. Methods: Data were collected from a variety of health professionals before and after an intervention of implementating MiMo at a hospital-based labour ward in Sweden, using nine focus group interviews with a total of 43 participants: midwives (n = 16), obstetricians (n = 8), assistant nurses (n = 11) and managers (n = 8). The text from interviews was analysed using content analysis. Findings: From expressing no explicit need of a midwifery model of woman-centred care before the intervention, there was a shift in midwives, obstetricians and managers perceptions towards identifying advantages of using the MiMo as it gives words to woman-centred midwifery care. Such shift in perception was not found among the assistant nurses. Discussion: Clarification of the various roles of health professionals is needed to develop the model. Heavy workloads and stress were barriers to implementing the model. Thus, more support is needed from organisational management. Conclusions: The model was useful for all professional groups, except for assistant nurses. Further studies are needed in order to clarify the various professional roles and interdisciplinary collaborations in making the MiMo more useful in daily maternity care.