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Midwives' experiences of discussing health behaviour change within routine maternity care: A qualitative systematic

Hannah Talbot¹, Sarah Peters¹, Christine Furber²

¹Division of Psychology and Mental Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, UK.

Women and Birth : Journal of the Australian College of Midwives

|January 9, 2024

Problem:

Behaviours, such as smoking, alcohol use, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity and vaccination non-adherence may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Background:

Pregnancy has been identified as an opportune time for midwives to support women to make health behaviour changes.

Aim:

To synthesise existing qualitative research exploring midwives' experiences of discussing health behaviour change with women within routine care.

Methods:

A systematic search was conducted across: Maternity and Infant Care, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts. Thematic analysis was used to synthesise the data. A professional and public advisory group provided feedback during the synthesis stage.

Findings:

Twenty-two studies, published between 2005 and 2023, which represented findings from eight countries, were included in the review. The meta-synthesis revealed three themes: The midwife-woman relationship; Reflective and tailored behaviour change communication; Practical barriers to behaviour change conversations. This led to one overarching theme: Although midwives recognised the importance of behaviour change discussions, these conversations were not prioritised in clinical practice.

Conclusion:

Health behaviour change discussions were de-prioritised in midwives' clinical practice. Future research should explore intervention development to support midwives with their health behaviour change communication.

Keywords:

Health behavior Midwife Postnatal care Pregnancy Qualitative research Systematic review

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