P23 - Who do you think we are? Community perceptions of a midwife

Abstract

Midwifery identifies as an independent health profession that partners with women and their families throughout the continuum of the childbearing journey. Midwives are highly educated and skilled health professionals who counsel, support, educate and empower women, families, and communities to have agency in decisions related to reproductive health and the transition to parenthood. As midwives, we know this but what does the broader society think a Midwife is? The aim of this project was to capture the overall impression of the midwifery profession within the community. We sought to identify knowledge deficits that may have the potential to impact local maternity service provision, as well as to raise the profile and visibility of the midwifery profession within these areas. A team of midwifery academics took to the streets of Ballarat, Gippsland and Berwick to capture a snapshot of Victoria’s perception of midwives and midwifery. Members of the community were engaged in conversation with a midwifery academic or representative, who recorded, photographed and/or filmed the interaction with written consent. Questions to prompt conversation included: What is a midwife? What do you think midwives do? Have you had any experiences with midwives? and/or have midwives impacted your own life in any way? These short audio-visual clips were edited into a collation of moving imagery to convey the results of our sociological study.