Abstract
Background
Health inequities and socio-economic disadvantage are causes for concern in Aotearoa
New Zealand. Becoming pregnant can increase a woman’s vulnerability to poverty, with
the potential for an increase in multiple stressful life events. Providing midwifery
care to women living in socio-economic deprivation has been found to add additional
strains for midwives. Exploring the perspectives of the midwives providing care to
women living with socio-economic deprivation can illuminate the complexities of maternity
care.
Aim
To explore the impact on midwives when providing care for socio-economically disadvantaged
women in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Method
Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse an open-ended question from a survey
that asked midwives to share a story around maternal disadvantage and midwifery care.
Findings
A total of 214 stories were received from midwives who responded to the survey. Providing
care to disadvantaged women had an impact on midwives by incurring increased personal
costs (time, financial and emotional), requiring them to navigate threats and uncertainty
and to feel the need to remedy structural inequities for women and their wider families.
These three themes were moderated by the relationships midwives held with women and
affected the way midwives worked across the different maternity settings.
Conclusion
Midwives carry a greater load when providing care to socio-economically deprived women.
Enabling midwives to continue to provide the necessary support for women living in
socio-economic deprivation is imperative and requires additional resources and funding.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 12, 2021
Accepted:
March 30,
2021
Received in revised form:
March 22,
2021
Received:
December 8,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
