The experiences and challenges of midwives working for midwives

A collaborative practice of maternity obstetric unit midwives and private midwives was established in Johannesburg in 2006/2007 as a response to women’s requests for natural childbirth. The values and cultural practices of the private midwife differ from those of the maternity obstetric unit midwife which leads to conflict. The therapeutic relationship between midwife and clients becomes adversely affected if the midwife is in conflict with the primary caregiver. Minimal research was found on the inter-professional relationship between midwives within the context of private midwifery care. The goal of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of midwives working for private midwives in an obstetric unit, during labour, birth and the post partum period in Gauteng. A purposive sampling technique was used and midwives who worked for a private midwife obstetric unit in Johannesburg, who met the inclusion criteria, were invited to participate in the study. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. Phenomenological interviews were conducted with midwives working for midwives. Audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim; organized into themes and sub-themes and checked by an independent researcher using Tesch’s steps of analysis. Lincoln and Guba’s criteria for trustworthiness were applied to the study. These interviews were followed by a focus group interview with eight participating midwives.Keywords: Experience, midwife, private midwife, nursing/midwifery care, pregnancy, labour and birth, post partum period