ReviewEuropean journal of midwifery2026
Midwifery ethics in care, practice, and education: A scoping review.
Review in European journal of midwifery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMidwifery ethics is central to high quality, respectful and relational maternity care. To inform the update of the International Confederation of Midwives, International Code of Ethics for Midwives, this scoping review systematically maps how ethics in midwifery care, practice and education is characterized.
methodsJoanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methods for a scoping review were used to guide the literature review process. The Population/Concept/Context (PCC) framework provided the boundaries for the review. Population: midwives, midwifery educators, midwifery researchers, midwifery students and women mainly receiving midwifery care. Concept: midwifery ethics. Content: midwifery care, practice and education. Searches of qualitative and quantitative literature, and discussion papers, spanning 2002-2025, were made using MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, MIDIRS, Emcare, Google and citation chaining. Data were extracted using an iterative content analysis approach extracting key ethical characteristics. The protocol for this review was prospectively registered with the Open Science Framework.
resultsThe search yielded 363 screened records, with 101 full texts assessed against inclusion criteria. Fifty articles were included in the review. Data was grouped to four interconnecting ethical concepts: Relational ethics emphasizes the importance of relationship, trust and emotional safety; the Practice of Ethics highlights care ethics attributes and accountability; the Ethical use of knowledge underscores evidenced based practice, reflexivity and sharing knowledge to equalize power; and Ethical leadership extends midwifery philosophical commitment to advocacy and reproductive justice.
conclusionThis review provides a contemporary map of midwifery ethics and foundational evidence to support the update to the global International Confederation of Midwives, International Code of Ethics for Midwives.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.