Workforce challenges experienced by midwives in Victoria: a population-based cross-sectional study

A well-supported, skilled midwifery workforce is critical to the provision of safe maternity care that optimises outcomes for women and babies. Issues such as burnout, workplace culture and workplace safety can affect how midwives’ function, and the quality of care they provide, but there is limited evidence regarding these factors in the midwifery context. We aimed to measure burnout, workplace culture and workplace safety among Victorian midwives. An online population-based cross-sectional survey of midwives in all private and public maternity services in Victoria, Australia was conducted between March and October 2021. Measures included the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory; the Australian Midwifery Workplace Culture survey; specifically designed questions to assess skill mix safety, level of occupational violence and bullying; and an open-ended question about key messages on the midwifery workforce. In total, 1016/5134 midwives responded (20% of midwives in Victorian maternity services). A large proportion of the respondents were experiencing personal burnout (72%) and work-related burnout (67%). Three-quarters felt midwifery skill mix was unsafe at some point in an average week. Half had experienced occupational violence and a quarter had experienced bullying in the 12 months prior to the survey. The majority of midwives (72%) felt their concerns were not taken seriously by their managers or midwifery units and that they had inadequate support when short-staffed. Only one in five felt their workplace had a positive culture. Midwives reported that they felt they were providing unsafe and inadequate care due to staffing issues and unsustainable workloads. Victorian midwives are experiencing very high levels of burnout and poor workplace culture and safety. Strategies are urgently needed to address these issues for Victorian midwives. It would be of value to repeat this work in other jurisdictions to understand these challenges at a national level.