Qualitative study of the roles of midwives in the provision of sexual and reproductive healthcare services in the Somaliland health system.

OBJECTIVES: To explore midwives' perspectives in providing sexual reproductive healthcare services in the Somaliland health system. METHODS: An exploratory qualitative design using focus group discussions (n=6) was used. The study was conducted in the capital of Somaliland, Hargeisa, at six maternal and child healthcare centres that provide sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) services. Qualified midwives (n=44) who had been working in the maternal and child health centres for a minimum of 1 year were recruited to participate, and only one did not participate due to illness. RESULTS: The results showed that Somaliland midwives face multiple challenges from a lack of formal arrangements, primarily written guidelines and policies, that explicitly define their role as healthcare professionals, which impact the quality of care they provide. They also reported feeling unsafe when practising according to their professional scope of practice due to challenging cultural norms, customary traditions and Somaliland's legal system. Finally, the midwives called for support, including training, institutional protection and psychological support, to enhance their ability and fulfil their role in SRH services in Somaliland. CONCLUSION: Midwives are essential to the provision of equitable SRH services to women and girls, yet are not fully supported by policies, laws or institutions, often living in fear of the consequences of their behaviours. Our research highlights the importance of understanding the context of Somaliland midwifery in order to better support the development of the midwifery workforce, stronger governance structures and midwifery leadership. Appropriately addressing these challenges faced by midwives can better sustain the profession and help to improve the quality of care provided to women and girls and ultimately enhance their reproductive health outcomes.

Evidence-informed framework for gender transformative continuing education interventions for midwives and midwifery associations.

INTRODUCTION: Continuing education for midwives is an important investment area to improve the quality of sexual and reproductive health services. Interventions must take into account and provide solutions for the systemic barriers and gender inequities faced by midwives. Our objective was to generate concepts and a theoretical framework of the range of factors and gender transformative considerations for the development of continuing education interventions for midwives. METHODS: A critical interpretive synthesis complemented by key informant interviews, focus groups, observations and document review was applied. Three electronic bibliographic databases (CINAHL, EMBASE and MEDLINE) were searched from July 2019 to September 2020 and were again updated in June 2021. A coding structure was created to guide the synthesis across the five sources of evidence. RESULTS: A total of 4519 records were retrieved through electronic searches and 103 documents were included in the critical interpretive synthesis. Additional evidence totalled 31 key informant interviews, 5 focus groups (Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania), 24 programme documents and field observations in the form of notes. The resulting theoretical framework outlines the key considerations including gender, the role of the midwifery association, political and health systems and external forces along with key enabling elements for the design, implementation and evaluation of gender transformative continuing education interventions. CONCLUSION: Investments in gender transformative continuing education for midwives, led by midwifery associations, can lead to the improvement of midwifery across all United Nations' target areas including governance, health workforce, health system arrangements and education.

Leveling up evidence syntheses: filling conceptual gaps of the role of midwifery in health systems through a network analysis.

OBJECTIVE: In the research note, our main objective is to explore the value of combining an evidence synthesis with a network analysis. The discussion is based on a critical interpretive synthesis, which combines systematic review methodology with qualitive inquiry, and 'research concept' network analysis focused on understanding the roles of midwives in health systems. The interpretative analytic approach of a critical interpretive synthesis has a high explanatory value by allowing for the review of a diverse body of literature and is well-suited to delving into areas that are not well understood, such as midwifery. RESULTS: Network analyses use graphs to represent relationships between concepts and brought to light important additional insights into the literature that were not present in the evidence synthesis alone. Given the lack of theoretical development in the area of midwifery in health systems, the critical interpretive synthesis allowed for the generation of concepts used to inform a theoretical framework, while the novel application of an exploratory network analysis deepened understanding of conceptual areas of saturation within the field, as well as identifying critical gaps in the literature.

Health systems factors impacting the integration of midwifery: an evidence-informed framework on strengthening midwifery associations.

INTRODUCTION: Midwifery associations are organisations that represent midwives and the profession of midwifery. They support midwives to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity by promoting the overall integration of midwifery in health systems. Our objective was to generate a framework for evidence-informed midwifery association strengthening. METHODS: A critical interpretive synthesis complemented by key informant interviews, focus groups, observations, and document review was used to inform the development of concepts and theory. Three electronic bibliographical databases (CINAHL, EMBASE and MEDLINE) were searched through to 2 September 2020. A coding structure was created to guide the synthesis across the five sources of evidence. RESULTS: A total of 1634 records were retrieved through electronic searches and 57 documents were included in the critical interpretive synthesis. Thirty-one (31) key informant interviews and five focus groups were completed including observations (255 pages) and audio recordings. Twenty-four (24) programme documents were reviewed. The resulting theoretical framework outlines the key factors by context, describes the system drivers that impact the sustainability of midwifery associations and identifies the key-enabling elements involved in designing programmes that strengthen midwifery associations. CONCLUSION: Midwifery associations act as the web that holds the profession together and are key to the integration of the profession in health systems, supporting enabling environments and improving gender inequities. Our findings highlight that in order to strengthen midwifery (education, regulation and services), we have to lead with association strengthening. Building strong associations is the foundation necessary to create formal quality midwifery education systems and to support midwifery regulation and accreditation mechanisms.

Midwives' integration of post abortion manual vacuum aspiration in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a mixed methods case study & positive deviance assessment.

BACKGROUND: Despite a recognized need for midwives to provide post abortion care, there exist barriers preventing them from integrating lifesaving skills such as manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) into practice. This collaborative research with the Professional Association of Congolese Midwives (SCOSAF), sought to understand how certain midwives in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have overcome barriers to successfully integrate MVA for post abortion care. Specifically, in order to provide locally-driven solutions to the problem of inadequate post abortion care in the DRC, this study aimed to identify examples of positive deviance, or midwives who had successfully integrated MVA in complex working environments following an in-service training facilitated by their midwifery association, SCOSAF. METHODS: Creswell's mixed method comparative case study design was used to identify positive deviant midwives who had practiced MVA one or more times post training and to explore their strategies and enabling factors. Other midwives who had not practiced MVA post training permitted for a comparison gro cup and further interpretations. Sources of data included a sequential survey and semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: All 102 midwives invited to be surveyed were recruited and 34% reported practicing MVA post training (positive deviant midwives). No statistical significance was found between the two groups' demographics and practice facility type. Overall, both groups had positive attitudes regarding midwifery-led MVA and legalization of abortion. Positive deviant midwives demonstrated and described more confidence and competence to practice and teach MVA. They were more likely to identify as teachers and overcome interprofessional barriers by teaching MVA to physicians, medical students and other midwives and position themselves as experts during post abortion emergencies. CONCLUSION: Results provided important insight to midwives' integration of post abortion care in Kinshasa. Strategies used by positive deviant midwives in emergencies allowed them to navigate challenging contexts in order to practice MVA, while simultaneously increasing the credibility of their profession and the dissemination of evidenced-based MVA practice. Programs designed to work with and promote positive deviant midwives as knowledge brokers could be tested for their overall impact on the diffusion of midwifery-led MVA to improve access to safe, respectful reproductive care.

Meeting the needs of Nunavut families: a community-based midwifery education program.

CONTEXT: Pregnant Nunavut women are usually expected to relocate to distant and larger urban centres, often for several weeks, to give birth. A national study revealed that these women are less likely to have necessary information on pregnancy related topics and less satisfied with their maternity experiences. While prenatal and postpartum care can be accessed through nursing stations, opportunities for intrapartum care within Nunavut are limited to the hospital in Iqaluit or the birthing centre in Rankin Inlet. ISSUES: One strategy that may be help ameliorate these regional differences is increasing the integration of midwifery services. Many historical and political factors have contributed to the loss of traditional maternity care among the Inuit of Nunavut. A unique, multi-layered midwifery education program, with a range of exit points from maternity care worker to baccalaureate degree, was implemented by a partnership between the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Arctic College (NAC). Creative approaches were invoked to develop a program that is both culturally safe and ensures that graduates at midwifery diploma level are eligible to write the Canadian Midwifery Regulatory Exam (CMRE). The loss of traditional midwifery and the very dispersed population created challenges with respect to development of appropriate clinical learning sites where students can learn midwifery from midwives. Because NAC does not grant degrees, a collaborative partnership with Laurentian University is underway to meet the needs of those midwifery students who wish to complete a degree. LESSONS LEARNED: Midwifery has a bright future in Nunavut. Two students have already passed CMREs on their first attempt. Plans are in place to enroll a class in Cambridge Bay in the fall of 2010. One NAC student is enrolled in courses at Laurentian University and should complete the third year of that program in 2010.