Spiritual care, compassion and associated factors of midwives working in delivery rooms

Aim: This study aimed to determine the level of spiritual care and compassion among midwives working in delivery rooms and associated factors. Methods: A descriptive design was utilized to collect data using self-report questionnaires from 181 midwives working in delivery rooms in Turkey. Data were collected between 1 February 2020 and 20 March 2020. Results: The mean Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (SCGS) (min: 25- max: 175) and Compassion Scale (CS) (min: 24– max: 120) scores were 147.88 ± 17.84 and 96.37 ± 12.84. It was determined that there was a significant difference between the SCGS and CS scores of the midwives based on age, working year, work schedule, job satisfaction and traumatic birth experiences. Furthermore, there were positive correlations between scores on certain SCGS and CS subdimensions. Conclusion: Midwifery is a continuously evolving profession based on helping others. However, long working hours and their exposure to traumatic birth events negatively affect both spiritual caregiving and compassion levels of midwives. Working conditions of midwives need to improve and this would contribute to the quality of maternal healthcare. Also, studies should be conducted in different contexts, societies and cultures to identify barriers to compassionate and spiritual care during childbirth.