Combining work with caring for children, findings from a longitudinal study of midwives' careers

Facilities that enable women to combine work with caring for children are of particular importance to professions comprised primarily of women, such as midwifery. This article presents findings on four aspects of this topic obtained in the course of a 13-year longitudinal study of midwives' careers: the numbers who had children and had taken breaks for pregnancy and child care, opportunities for professional development during periods of child care; the effect of such breaks on career progression, and the importance of family commitments in relation to retention. The majority of both cohorts were single women in their twenties at the time that they qualified as midwives. During the course of the study more than half the respondents had children; pregnancy was cited as the main reason for leaving midwifery followed in later years by being unable to find posts with hours of work that could be combined with family commitments. Findings showed little evidence of employers keeping in touch with midwives during child care breaks about job opportunities and professional developments; the majority of respondents however, said that they would have welcomed such contact. In common with other work on women's careers, this study demonstrated that breaks for child care are associated with slower rates of promotion. A wide range of issues were identified by respondents as relevant to retention, with those relating to combining work and family rated consistently as among the most important. The study demonstrates the importance that should be accorded to this issue when overall policies to improve retention in midwifery are being considered.