WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

Limitations to this study
This appears to be the first study completed on the experiences of coordinator midwives
in the tertiary hospital delivery suite setting. It became evident at an early stage in this
study that the stories these five coordinators shared were so rich, that from the
phenomenological perspective no further participants were required. As a consequence,
this study is limited by its small number of participants and the findings which are non
transferable.
Phenomenological methodology was my attempt to provide a baseline from which
researchers may choose to explore different aspects of coordinators’ experiences in the
future. It is one of many methodologies which could have been used but it was the most
appropriate for me as I was interested in using an interpretive approach which would
assist me in my understanding of coordinators’ experiences.
Other methodologies offer different scopes for research of this topic. For example,
grounded theory could be used to encompass a larger sample of coordinators to develop a
theory regarding coordinators’ experiences. Aspects of research from the feminist
perspective could potentially reveal gender issues for coordinators in their workplace and
inequity in working conditions; alternatively participatory research could be utilized to
empower coordinators to improve their working conditions.
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