Exposure to Traumatic Events at Work, Post-Traumatic Symptoms, and Professional Quality of Life among Italian Midwives: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the potential occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, following exposure to traumatic events, in Italian midwives and their consequent influence on the quality of midwives' professional lives. In addition, data were collected on the major traumatic events described by midwives.

Method: A cross-sectional study related the socio-demographic characteristics of 286 midwives with the scores obtained on two assessment scales, one for post-traumatic stress disorder (IES-R) and the other for quality of life (ProQOL V). The percentage of midwives who obtained a score higher than the predetermined threshold value in both questionnaires was noted, and the correlations that emerged were highlighted. Through this qualitative method, their significant work-related traumatic events were investigated to finally detect the prevalence percentage of each category.

Results: The proportion of midwives scoring higher than 33 on the IES-R scale, indicating a higher likelihood of PTSD, was 48.6%. Freelancers or outpatient clinic midwives had lower mean IES scores (p = 0.049). A significant inverse correlation was observed between age and IES-R score and between the compassion satisfaction subscale and time since completing education (p = 0.028). A comparison between the IES-R and ProQOL scales showed a statistically significant correlation (p < 0.001), in particular, between the burnout (BO) (p < 0.001) and secondary traumatic stress (STS) (p < 0.001) subscales. The thematic categorization of traumatic events included mother/child death, mother/child medical complications, relational problems with patients or team members, and organizational problems/medical staff's inexperience.

Conclusions: The emerging data may confirm the data in the literature, namely those showing that midwives are prone to developing work-related PTSD, particularly due to their exposure to traumatic events such as maternal and neonatal death.