ArticleBMJ open2024
Status of the midwifery workforce and childbirth services and the impact of midwife staffing on birth outcomes in China: a multicentre cross-sectional study.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Preventive trial-and-error model is associated with improved breech delivery skills and training transfer in midwifery interns.iScience · 2026Article
- Chinese version of the labour ward job satisfaction scale for midwives: translation, cultural adaptation and psychometric validation.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of a combined online and in-person training model in improving village health workers' counselling quality and infant and young child feeding practices: a mixed-methods study in rural China.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Assessing stakeholders' acceptability of implementing the midwifery continuity of care model in China: a convergent mixed-method study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Spatial disparities and dynamic evolution of health human resources in primary healthcare institutions in China: a study from the perspective of aggregation degree.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- The Impact of Implementing an Evidence-Based Intrapartum Care Quality Improvement Program on Childbirth Outcomes for Laboring Women: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis.Journal of nursing management · 2026Article
- Evaluating the implementation of intermittent versus continuous fetal heart rate monitoring on intrapartum care and early neonatal outcomes using causal mediational modeling.Frontiers in drug safety and regulation · 2026Article
- The Relationship Between Midwives' Psychological Capital and Core Competency: A Latent Profile Analysis.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the status of the midwifery workforce and childbirth services in China and to identify the association between midwife staffing and childbirth outcomes.
designA descriptive, multicentre cross-sectional survey.
settingMaternity hospitals from the eastern, central and western regions of China.
participantsStratified sampling of maternity hospitals between 1 July and 31 December 2021.The sample hospitals received a package of questionnaires, and the head midwives from the participating hospitals were invited to fill in the questionnaires.
resultsA total of 180 hospitals were selected and investigated, staffed with 4159 midwives, 412 obstetric nurses and 1007 obstetricians at the labour and delivery units. The average efficiency index of annual midwifery services was 272 deliveries per midwife. In the sample hospitals, 44.9% of women had a caesarean delivery and 21.4% had an episiotomy. Improved midwife staffing was associated with reduced rates of instrumental vaginal delivery (adjusted β -0.032, 95% CI -0.115 to -0.012, p<0.05) and episiotomy (adjusted β -0.171, 95% CI -0.190 to -0.056, p<0.001).
conclusionThe rates of childbirth interventions including the overall caesarean section in China and the episiotomy rate, especially in the central region, remain relatively high. Improved midwife staffing was associated with reduced rates of instrumental vaginal delivery and episiotomy, indicating that further investments in the midwifery workforce could produce better childbirth outcomes.
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