Abstract
BackgroundThe significant role of midwives in providing labor and delivery care underscores the necessity of the identification of attitudes and beliefs of these groups of maternity care providers toward physiological childbirth. The purpose of the current study was to describe midwives’ attitudes and beliefs toward physiological childbirth and identify its related factors.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was carried out on 200 midwives working in the labor and delivery wards of selected hospitals in an urban area of Tehran, Iran, through the continuous sampling method from May to July 2018. The data were collected using a two-part demographic characteristic form and Midwives’ Attitudes and Beliefs Questionnaire-Revised toward physiological childbirth. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 25). The significance level was set at P < 0.05.ResultsThe mean score of midwives’ attitudes and beliefs toward physiological childbirth were 119.90 with a standard deviation of 9.30. Moreover, of the different domains of Midwives’ Attitudes and Beliefs Questionnaire-Revised, the women’s experience of birth (78.53) and the medical model conflict (51.05) obtained the highest and lowest scores, respectively. According to the multiple linear regression model analysis, the total mean score of midwives’ attitudes and beliefs toward physiological childbirth was significantly correlated with the level of education and interest in the profession (P < 0.05). Midwives with a master degree obtained higher scores (4.32) in terms of attitudes and beliefs toward physiologic childbirth, compared to those with an associate or bachelor degree. Also, there were 0.09 increases in the attitude and belief score of midwives per one score increase in their interest in the profession. It can be concluded that these two variables explained 16% of the variation in the scores of midwives’ attitudes and beliefs to physiological childbirth.ConclusionThe results of this study showed that midwives with higher levels of education and more interest in their profession had more positive attitudes and beliefs toward physiological childbirth. Therefore, it is necessary to motivate midwives to obtain higher levels of education and increase their interest in the profession to promote physiological childbirth.
Highlights
The significant role of midwives in providing labor and delivery care underscores the necessity of the identification of attitudes and beliefs of these groups of maternity care providers toward physiological childbirth
The results showed that 24.26% of midwives had a positive attitude toward the elective cesarean section
Given the fact that this study examined the attitude and beliefs of midwives as a group with higher responsibility for providing care during pregnancy, labor, and birth in Iran [21], Levine and Lowe (2015) questionnaire was found to be a useful instrument to be utilized in this study [16]
Summary
The significant role of midwives in providing labor and delivery care underscores the necessity of the identification of attitudes and beliefs of these groups of maternity care providers toward physiological childbirth. Pregnancy and childbirth are the most important periods in a woman’s life [1]. Over the past few decades, the medical model of childbirth has brought both a set of attitudes and beliefs. In this model, childbirth is regarded as a disease which requires medical intervention rather than a normal physiological process [6]. Childbirth is regarded as a disease which requires medical intervention rather than a normal physiological process [6] This attitude necessitates a situation where the onset of one intervention usually leads to additional interventions which results in the implementation of a range of medical interferences [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
