WORKING AS A COORDINATOR MIDWIFE IN A TERTIARY ...

place high stresses on midwives. Both DHB and LMC midwives in the tertiary setting are
confronted with unexpected outcomes and emotionally draining critical events.
Thompson (2003) writes of emergency situations when “caregivers spend the majority of
their focus on the people directly involved and impacted by the incident and fail to pay
attention to their own needs” (p.1). She highlights the reality that those involved usually
go home to their own life worlds tired and with work left undone if they haven’t
debriefed from their experience. Her research shows significant emotional benefits for
professionals if steps are in place in their workplace to provide support to prevent
cumulative stress. This process also reinforces professionals practising what they preach
in their workplaces and it promotes teamwork.
There is a sense of contradiction in research for this study between the provision of
midwifery care midwives aspire to provide and their reality of ‘what is’ (NZCOM, 2005;
Kirkham, 2000; Kirkham, 2005; Johnston, 2007). Wells (2003) graphically describes her
feelings in her writing as she explains how she tries to provide the best care she is able
and leaves her shift “feeling drained, dehydrated, and hoping that something vital hasn’t
been forgotten. I know I am not the only midwife who feels this way. I then spend hours
at home catching up on my thoughts, imagining the worst-case scenario about the care
I’ve been unable to give” (p.7).
Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner and Schaufeli (2000) tested a model of burnout and life
satisfaction for nurses in Germany with their results confirming the links between job
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