Edinburgh Napier University

  Background: The Vietnam midwifery report acknowledges that while health services are available in Vietnam, there is growing need to increase levels of respectful maternal care provided to women in labour.

Objective: In conjunction with newborns Vietnam charity, our objective was to assess the perceived continuous professional development needs of midwives working in Vietnam to inform development of an intranatal respectful maternal care education resource.

Method: A qualitative exploratory descriptive method was used to conduct a training needs analysis, which identified perceived education requirements of midwives in Vietnam in relation to providing respectful maternal care.

Participants: A convenience sample of midwives (n=49) participated in the study.

Data-collection: Eight on-line focus groups were carried out in four hospitals (maternity units) across Vietnam using WebEx, with the interview schedule informed by the World Health Organization guide for delivering intrapartum care for a positive birth experience.

Data-analysis: Data were transcribed into English and analysed using the 6-steps of thematic analysis outlined by Braun and Clark.

Findings: Three themes and 9 sub-themes were developed from the data. The first theme addressed aspects that contribute towards creating a positive birth experience; the second theme observed barriers to changing practice; and the third theme noted that there are a variety of preferred teaching methods.

Conclusions: In response to the training needs analysis, a respectful maternal care education resource has been designed to transform selected areas of intranatal care in Vietnam. Integrating the respectful maternal care educational resource into midwives’ continuous professional development in Vietnam is intended to increase women’s rights to have safe childbirth, which accommodates choice and control, and promotes a positive birth experience.

Recommendations for practice: Post-completion and evaluation, we hope that the intranatal respectful maternal care educational resource will be rolled out to all practising midwives in Vietnam.