Midwives' Professional Competencies for Preventing Maternal Mortality in Disasters: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran Publisher Pubmed



Taghizadeh Z¹ ; Khoshnam Rad M² ; Kazemnejad A³
Source: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness Published:2018

Abstract

Objective Maternal mortality may increase after a disaster. Because midwives are at the frontline of offering reproductive health care services in disasters, they should be competent.Methods This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study carried out in 2015 in Tehran. The sample consisted of 361 midwives selected by use of a cluster random sampling method. Data were collected by using a questionnaire on professional competency for preventing maternal mortality in disasters.Results The midwives' mean professional competency score was 177.74±31, which was an average level of professional competency. The level of knowledge and skills of the midwives was reported as inadequate for most items, particularly for the items of managing mothers affected by chronic diseases, physical trauma, recognizing patients who needed to be referred, and stabilizing mothers when referring them. Statistically significant relationships were observed between the midwives' competencies and age (P=0.001), work experience (P=0.054), educational level (P= 0.043), previous experience in a disaster (P=0.014), and workplace (P=0.006). These data were drawn by using Spearman's correlation, t-test, and ANOVA, respectively.Conclusions Given the average scores for midwives' professional competency in disasters and the inadequacy of prior training courses, extra educational programs for midwives are recommended. © 2017 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.