TY - JOUR
T1 - 'You can drop dead'
T2 - midwives bullying women
AU - Dietsch, Elaine
AU - Shackleton, Pam
AU - Davies, Carmel
AU - McLeod, Margaret
AU - Alston, Margaret
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - This paper describes how women experienced what came to be labelled as bullying by a small number of midwives when they were evacuated from their rural and remote areas of NSW, Australia to a maternity unit to birth. Research question: What is the experience of women who are required to travel away from their NSW rural/remote communities to birth? Participants and methods: Forty-two participants together with a number of their partners/support people were interviewed indepth for this qualitative, exploratory study. Upon thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews, an unexpected finding was that four participants (plus one partner) described experiences which were interpreted as bullying, by a small number of midwives working with them. Women identifying as Aboriginal were especially likely to share stories of midwifery bullying. Results, discussion and conclusion: Emotional and cultural safety of women must be a prime consideration of midwives. Strategies to reverse power differentials between midwives and women are urgently required to eradicate bullying by any midwife.
AB - This paper describes how women experienced what came to be labelled as bullying by a small number of midwives when they were evacuated from their rural and remote areas of NSW, Australia to a maternity unit to birth. Research question: What is the experience of women who are required to travel away from their NSW rural/remote communities to birth? Participants and methods: Forty-two participants together with a number of their partners/support people were interviewed indepth for this qualitative, exploratory study. Upon thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews, an unexpected finding was that four participants (plus one partner) described experiences which were interpreted as bullying, by a small number of midwives working with them. Women identifying as Aboriginal were especially likely to share stories of midwifery bullying. Results, discussion and conclusion: Emotional and cultural safety of women must be a prime consideration of midwives. Strategies to reverse power differentials between midwives and women are urgently required to eradicate bullying by any midwife.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77951295972
U2 - 10.1016/j.wombi.2009.07.002
DO - 10.1016/j.wombi.2009.07.002
M3 - Article
SN - 1871-5192
VL - 23
SP - 53
EP - 59
JO - Women and Birth
JF - Women and Birth
ER -