Understand and prevent burnout in midwifery

Researcher and clinical midwife Robyn Matthews is interested in finding out what makes midwives happy at work and what makes them unhappy. She has studied job satisfaction and burnout for almost a decade and has some great insights into how we can support midwives to stay in the profession and feel satisfied with the vital work they do supporting women and babies. 

“Global studies have confirmed that levels of burnout among midwives is higher than other health professions such as doctors and nurses. We are not entirely sure why, but it could be because of the emotional investment midwives put into their jobs.” 

“The tricky thing is to identify if you are heading for burnout and not coping. There are things we can do to tackle the causes of burnout,” says Robyn.

Strategies for preventing burnout

• Ask your colleagues if they noticed signs you are not coping
• Review your patient load – if you are dealing with a lot of loss, ask for a shift of focus
• Speak up – tell your managers and colleagues how you are faring
• Support and seek the support of others – don’t ‘cope’ alone
• Manage as you would like to be managed – tell your team they are doing a great job

Robyn says while midwives are in a profession where there are a lot of factors that contribute to burn out, there are some good strategies available to tackle and ideally prevent burnout. 

Check in with your colleagues

You might check in with your colleagues and see if they have noticed anything in relation to the more sensitive aspects of your job. Are there things you can put in place like planning some annual leave if you feel things are getting overwhelming? Think about taking some time out and talk to your manager about it.

Patient mix – balance not burnout 

It is also useful to think about the mix of patients being cared for and try to make sure there is a balance, Robyn says. 

“If you are looking after a lot of women who have pregnancy losses you could ask if you can shift your focus and make sure you look after your own mental health. You might even consider a preventative measure like changing midwifery roles if you feel you are on the way to burnout.”

Try ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ debriefing

Other things midwives could try include self-advocating – speaking up and bringing their situation to the attention of their manager and debriefing with colleagues. 

“I would recommend hot and cold debriefing,” Robyn says. 

“Hot debriefing directly after a traumatic event or critical incident and cold debriefing in the days and weeks after the incident after the adrenaline has settled."

Support others and seek support

The research Robyn has conducted so far has found strong evidence that midwives who feel supported and adequately acknowledged for the work they do are less likely to experience burnout.

Manage each team member individually

“This is something that sounds simple but can be important. As a manager or colleague, you can make a big difference to how someone feels at work by letting them know they did a great job. Check on your colleagues and support them. This can be different for everyone, and we should be asking people what they need to feel supported.”