Abstract:
BACKGROUND
Maternal mortality is a global problem mostly influenced by pregnancy related
conditions or its management. Regardless of the availability of resources in some
institutions, maternal death results in midwives exhibiting signs of physical, emotional,
and psychological trauma.
METHOD
The study adopted qualitative explorative descriptive research designed to explore the
physical and psychological effects of maternal deaths among midwives working in a
selected public hospital at Vhembe district, Limpopo Province. A non-probability
snowball sampling was used to select participants who participated in this study. Data
in this study was collected through semi structured interviews. The interviews were
recorded, transcribed, and analysed using a thematic content analysis method. The
data collected was further submitted to the independent coder to confirm the study
findings. Measures of Trustworthiness were maintained in the study.
RESULTS
From the study, three themes and 16 sub-themes emerged. The findings of this study
indicate that midwives experienced physical and psychological health issues
manifested as loss of appetite, insomnia, social isolation, avoidant behaviour,
depression, and anger.
CONCLUSION
The physical and psychological effects of maternal death impact the quality of
maternal healthcare rendered by midwives. In view of this, midwives need to be
supported in different ways such as counselling, debriefing, training and being
provided with all the necessary resources they need to enable them to cope with the
adverse event of a maternal death.
