Understanding the barriers UK midwives face in leading research: A critical discussion paper

Midwives have a pivotal role in supporting excellence in care through research. However, in the UK, very few midwives lead research. It has been estimated that <0.1 % of clinical midwives are employed in clinical academic careers, where they pursue a joint role working clinically and conducting research, and only 12 % of midwives working in academia hold a PhD.

Increasing midwifery-led research and building research capacity for midwives has long been on the UK national agenda. Due to their experience, midwives can address clinically important questions and research solutions to problems that they have observed in their practice. However, midwives face many barriers to commencing and sustaining a career where they engage in midwife-led research.

This critical discussion paper aims to explore and understand the factors acting as barriers to UK midwives embarking on and maintaining a career leading research.

This paper presents a critical discussion of the barriers for UK-based midwives to pursue research careers based on four main key points. The paper draws from UK-based reports and international contemporary literature. Four key barriers were identified from the literature: Lack of opportunities, awareness and knowledge of research among midwives; Lack of role models and mentorship; Lack of NHS and Approved Education Institution (AEI) organisational support; Lack of a clear pathway of progression.

Significant barriers exist for UK midwives to engage in midwife-led research, which must be addressed to enable midwife-led research capacity to be improved and establish a workforce of leading midwifery researchers. Key recommendations have been identified to improve the accessibility of conducting midwife-led research.