Ways of working with labour pain: midwives' preferences and workplace supports and challenges

Clear evidence demonstrates that continuous care provided by midwives during labour reduces the need for interventions for pain relief, improves birth outcomes, and increases the likelihood of women having a positive experience of labour. Recent research has emphasised that a woman’s labour pain experience can be impacted by many factors, including events during labour, the words and actions of staff, and the support they receive. We aimed to investigate midwives’ philosophy of care and its implementation, in relation to supporting women to manage pain in labour. Findings from a national survey of midwives, conducted between December 2022 and March 2023, about midwives’ way of working with women to manage pain in labour, will be shared. The survey received over 450 responses from Australian midwives across all states/territories, and working in various types of services and models of care. We will present data from one section of the survey, describing midwives’ preferred care approach based on the ‘working with pain’ versus ‘pain relief’ theories, the proportion of midwives that feel their workplace supports them to work in their preferred approach, and discuss reasons that midwives note for why their workplace does/does not facilitate them to work in their preferred approach. This knowledge will contribute to improving the care of women in labour, by better understanding how midwives work and the challenges they face in working in their preferred approach when supporting women in labour.