Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41776497›Full record

Trial reportBMC pregnancy and childbirth2026

The effect of group clinical supervision on the burnout levels among midwives: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Christine Catling, Habtamu Kasaye, Chris Rossiter, Simeon Dale, Hala Phipps, Kathryn Farrell, Helen Donovan, Jane Maguire

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialEquivalence Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Christine CatlingSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia. christine.catling@uts.edu.au.
Habtamu KasayeSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Chris RossiterSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia. Christine.rossiter@uts.edu.au.
Simeon DaleNursing Research Institute, St Vincent's Health Network Sydney & St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010, Australia.
Hala PhippsSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Kathryn FarrellSouth Western Sydney Local Health District, Locked Bag 7279, Liverpool BC, NSW, 1871, Australia.
Helen DonovanSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia.
Jane MaguireSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBurnout in midwifery is widespread globally, influencing workforce attrition and undermining maternity service provision. Large-scale systematic and structural reforms are necessary but time-consuming. Meanwhile, midwives need immediate support for wellbeing to enable them to make sense of their workplace, workload and their practice. This research aimed to examine the impact of Group Clinical Supervision (GCS) on burnout among midwives.

methodsThis superiority cluster randomised controlled trial studied registered midwives working at public maternity services in metropolitan New South Wales, Australia. Managers, agency staff and midwifery students were excluded. Sites were randomised electronically; midwives at intervention sites received monthly, hour-long, face-to-face GCS sessions. All participating midwives were surveyed six-monthly between June 2022 and November 2024. The primary outcome was burnout, measured with the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, including sub-dimensions - personal, work-related and client-related burnout - and analysed using a mixed-effects linear regression model adjusted for covariates. Secondary outcomes were perceptions of workplace culture and the GCS sessions. Only the statistician analysing data was blinded to group allocation.

resultsTwelve maternity services were enrolled, with 980 intervention participants and 1009 controls. Burnout rates were similar for both arms, but following adjustment for covariates, the intervention was associated with a small but statistically significant reduction in overall burnout scores: mean 47.3 for midwives at intervention sites (n = 882) and 50.0 for controls (n = 913), β=-2.7, 95% CI: -4.7 to -0.6] (p = 0.013). Specifically, work-related burnout was 3.0% points lower in the intervention group (p = 0.022), although reductions in client-related and personal burnout were not statistically significant. Most participants perceived their workplace culture positively, although the control group rated their overall workplace culture significantly more highly (p < 0.001). No unintended or harmful events occurred.

conclusionThis study showed that regular GCS can lower overall and work-related burnout in midwives. The overall rate of 51.5% was similar to or lower than other studies, with similarly lower rates among older midwives. There is an urgent need for systemic changes in maternity services, encompassing institutional support strategies to mitigate burnout so that staff can better manage their professional demands.

trial registration10/05/2021 with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry - ACTRN12621000545864p.

Indexed as

Burnout, ProfessionalMidwiferyNurse MidwivesAdultFemaleHumansJob SatisfactionMiddle AgedNew South WalesOrganizational CulturePregnancyWorking ConditionsWorkloadWorkplaceBurnoutClinical supervisionCluster randomized controlled trialMidwiferySydneyWorkplace culture

Identifiers

PMID41776497
PMCPMC13067507

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.