TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Midwives and sexual violence: a cross-sectional analysis of personal exposure, education and attitudes in practice
JO  - Women and birth
A1  - de Klerk, Hannah W.
A1  - Gitsels, Janneke T.
A1  - De Jonge, Ank
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - BACKGROUND: Around one in three women experience sexual violence during their lifetime. They may need trauma-sensitive maternity care that takes sexual trauma triggers into account. Midwives are similarly likely to have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. It is unknown whether midwives with a personal sexual violence history have a different professional approach to the topic than their colleagues without such history. <br><br>AIM: To explore whether midwives with a personal sexual violence history are more likely to have received or need education about sexual violence and whether they approach sexual violence differently in practice. <br><br>METHODS: An exploratory online survey was conducted amongst practicing midwives in high resource countries. Odds ratios were calculated for differences between midwives with and without a personal sexual violence history. <br><br>FINDINGS: Of the 288 participating midwives, 48.6% disclosed a personal sexual violence history. Midwives with a personal sexual violence history showed higher uptake of post-graduate education (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.23-3.44), more accurate prevalence estimation (OR 3.42, 95% CI 2.10-5.57) and more confidence to identify sexual violence history (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.19-3.15). We found no differences in requiring future education, screening practices, other aspects of confidence or time and discomfort barriers. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: As fellow survivors, midwives with a personal sexual violence history have a unique standpoint towards sexual violence in maternity care practice that may make them more sensitive to the issue.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1871-5192
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2021.12.004
ID  - ref1
ER  -