Midwives’ perceptions of the support they provide to new graduates and the role of the health service in Australia : A survey of midwives

Journal article

Stulz, Virginia M., Cummins, Allison, Davis, Deborah, Hastie, Carolyn, Sweet, Linda, Bradfield, Zoe, Griffiths, Marnie, McKellar, Lois, Jefford, Elaine, Sheehan, Athena and Gray, Michelle. (2025). Midwives’ perceptions of the support they provide to new graduates and the role of the health service in Australia : A survey of midwives. Women and Birth. 38(3), p. Article 101913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2025.101913
AuthorsStulz, Virginia M., Cummins, Allison, Davis, Deborah, Hastie, Carolyn, Sweet, Linda, Bradfield, Zoe, Griffiths, Marnie, McKellar, Lois, Jefford, Elaine, Sheehan, Athena and Gray, Michelle
Abstract

Problem
Evidence suggests new midwifery graduates are leaving the profession prematurely during the initial graduate years due to workplace stress.

Background
Graduate midwives are essential to provide a future midwifery workforce. Support for new graduates in the initial years of practice is essential in retaining them in the midwifery profession.

Aim
The aim of this study was to explore midwives’ perspectives of the support they provide new graduates within existing midwifery graduate programs, and their experiences and perceptions of the health service processes to support midwifery graduates.

Methods
A cross-sectional study was undertaken with a purposive sample of Australian midwives. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse frequencies and percentages of responses. Spearman’s correlational analyses were used to determine associations between the variables. Responses to open-ended questions were analysed by content analysis.

Findings
In total, 167 midwives responded to the survey. Just over a third (34.1 %) of midwives felt they had sufficient resources to support a midwifery graduate. Half (50.9 %) of the midwives engaged in reflective practice with midwifery graduates. The majority (97 %) of midwives reported that they felt it was important for midwifery graduates to have a mentor.

Discussion
A lack of protected time to provide mentoring opportunities and support new graduates to gain further experience and education was identified. These findings support the need for a formal mentorship program to be introduced.

Conclusion
This study offers insights into the perspective of midwives dealing with the realities of striving to support midwifery graduates in their initial years of practice.

Keywordsmidwifery graduate; midwifery; attrition and retention; workforce; mentors
Year2025
JournalWomen and Birth
Journal citation38 (3), p. Article 101913
PublisherElsevier Ltd
ISSN1871-5192
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2025.101913
PubMed ID40267844
Scopus EID2-s2.0-105002866023
Open accessPublished as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Page range1-9
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online22 Apr 2025
Publication process dates
Accepted15 Apr 2025
Deposited11 Jun 2025
Additional information

© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Australian College of Midwives. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).

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