Perception of empowerment in Spanish midwives: A cross-sectional study

Empowerment of midwives is an important issue worldwide and lack of empowerment in midwives is associated with a decrease in job satisfaction and consequently a higher probability of job desertion. Given the international shortage of professionals, it is necessary to explore the key aspects of increasing their job satisfaction. The aim of this paper was to investigate perceptions of empowerment in Spanish midwives' practice through the Perceptions of Empowerment in Midwifery Scale (PEMS).

A cross-sectional survey using a national sample of midwives in Spain from January to June 2023. 504 midwives were recruited from the Spanish Federation of midwives' associations in 2023. Data were collected using the revised version of the Perception of Empowerment Scale (PEMS) translated into Spanish.

The PEMS scale exhibited suitable validity. The exploratory factor analyses identified three subescales: Professional Recognition, Autonomy and Manager,Support,Skills & Resources and Autonomy. The PEMS-R-IT had good internal consistency for each proposed dimension. 54.3 % of the participants reported having autonomy in their work. There were significant differences between primary care midwives and special care midwives in the Professional recognition dimension p = .016*. Midwives working in primary care felt more recognized professionally.

The perception of empowerment and autonomy of Spanish midwives in maternity and postnatal wards was lower than in the primary care setting. Years of experience were not significant in feeling more autonomous. More research is needed to assess the perceptions of empowerment of midwives in Spain. This study support the psychometric quality of PEMS.