One-to-one midwifery practice part 3: meaning for midwives

Abstract

This paper focuses on midwives’ experiences of working with a case load and what it meant to them, both professionally and as individuals. Four themes emerged that summed up the midwives’ experiences of working with a case load. These were role and time, holistic practice, relationships with women, and ‘orientation’ in relation to their sense of autonomy and responsibility. Midwives found case load practice rewarding in terms of control of their time, in their relationships with the women they looked after, and the personal and professional development they achieved. As a result, they felt like ‘real midwives’ in a way they had not done before.