Evaluation of a cross cultural peer-support program to develop midwifery leadership: A multimethod study

Across the globe there is a need to increase the number of midwives and invest in developing the capacity of midwives.

There is evidence that the promotion of midwifery leadership can lead to an improvement in maternal and newborn health. The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Midwifery Buddy Program develops a partnership between Australian and PNG midwives with the goal of building leadership confidence and skills in participants.

To explore participants' perception of the Buddy Program and the impact that participation in the Program had on their leadership skills.

This study utilised a multi-method approach, where data were collected through surveys conducted on multiple time points throughout the Buddy Program. All participants in the Program were invited to participate. Self-Leadership, Confidence as a Leader, Behaviour as a leader, and perceptions on the program workshop were assessed. Within and between group comparisons were made at baseline, after the workshop and 6-months.

The program was completed by 12 midwives from PNG and 7 from Australia. From baseline to 6-months, there was a significant increase in self-leadership skills (p= 0.016) in the PNG midwives. There was no significant difference between the Australian and PNG midwives for Self-Leadership, Confidence as a Leader or Behaviour as a leader at any time point.

Participation in the Program allowed midwives to develop their leadership skills and midwives valued the opportunity to network with other midwives.

The Buddy Program could be a model applied across other countries to build the capacity of midwives.