What is a professional midwifery advocate?

Midwives roles are dedicated to their profession, their patients, and giving their time to help women during their pregnancy, childbirth and post-partum period. This job can be taxing on the health professional, causing possible stress and burnout. When a person constantly gives so much of themselves to their clients with nothing in return, their emotional and physical wellbeing can become compromised.

‘Midwifery is a demanding profession carrying high levels of professional responsibility and, increasingly, public performance accountability. Midwives are accountable to the women they care for, to their employers, and to their regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)’ (Martin et al, 2018). In a recent study by Mollart et al (2013), 152 registered midwives working within two different hospital maternity units were tasked with taking the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services survey and another demographic survey that analysed their care model, shift work, lifestyle data and their exercise level.