Emotional labour: how midwives manage emotion at work

Midwifery is inherently emotional work. Midwives care for women at one of the most emotionally intense periods of their lives: they work during moments of birth and death, of joy, sadness and both physical and emotional pain. Yet the emotional experiences of midwives at work are often not spoken about. Midwives often tend to 'get on with the job', but the process of dealing with others' emotions, managing their own and displaying different kinds of emotion can be a challenging part of midwives' work and one for which they're not always adequately supported.