‘You can drop dead’: Midwives bullying women

Summary 

Background

This paper describes how women experienced what came to be labelled as ‘bullying’ by a small number of midwives when they were evacuated from their rural and remote areas of NSW, Australia to a maternity unit to birth.

Research question

What is the experience of women who are required to travel away from their NSW rural/remote communities to birth?

Participants and methods

Forty-two participants together with a number of their partners/support people were interviewed indepth for this qualitative, exploratory study. Upon thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews, an unexpected finding was that four participants (plus one partner) described experiences which were interpreted as bullying, by a small number of midwives working with them. Women identifying as Aboriginal were especially likely to share stories of midwifery bullying.

Results, discussion and conclusion

Emotional and cultural safety of women must be a prime consideration of midwives. Strategies to reverse power differentials between midwives and women are urgently required to eradicate bullying by any midwife.

Keywords: Bullying, Midwifery, Aboriginal women, Power, Abuse