The role of part-time practice arrangements in the sustainability of midwifery continuity of care models in Australia: an integrative review

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Aleshin, Olga
Donnellan-Fernandez, Roslyn
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2023
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Melbourne, Australia

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Background: Women who receive Midwifery-led Continuity of Care (MCoC) have improved perinatal outcomes, including a significantly lower chance of giving birth prematurely. This has influenced national maternity care reform to emphasise a need to expand MCoC models in Australia. The midwifery workforce in Australia is in crisis, with a workforce primarily comprised of part-time workers who are steadily leaving the profession due to burnout and dissatisfaction. Midwives working in MCoC models experience less burnout and greater job satisfaction. The majority of midwives working in MCoC models in Australia, however, work full-time hours. When attempting to develop and sustain new maternity care models in this environment, part time arrangements must be carefully considered. We aimed to analyse the role that part-time practice arrangements have in the sustainability of MCoC models in Australia. Methods: An integrative review was performed. Following a systematic search of the literature, six research articles were identified for evaluation using an integrated convergent narrative synthesis method. Results: The resulting themes from the synthesis suggest that part-time MCoC roles may support the sustainability of the MCoC workforce without reducing quality of care to women. Across the studies, a minimum FTE no less than 0.5 was suggested to meet the demands of the job. Challenges to the operationality of MCoC models with part time arrangements include backfilling leave. Conclusions: Maternity managers, leaders and stakeholders who are responsible for developing and supporting MCoC models in Australia should consider incorporating and evaluating part time workers. Data from this abstract was previously presented at the Australian College of Midwives National Conference, Cairns on 14 September 2022.

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Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

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Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) 2023 Annual Congress “Laneways to Better Perinatal Outcomes”, 5–8 March 2023, Melbourne Convention Centre, Melbourne, Victoria

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59

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S1

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Midwifery

Paediatrics

Midwifery Workforce

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Aleshin, O; Donnellan-Fernandez, R, The role of part-time practice arrangements in the sustainability of midwifery continuity of care models in Australia: an integrative review, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2023, 59 (S1), pp. 4-4