Empathy and spiritual care in midwifery practice: Contributing to women's enhanced birth experiences

Background: Research has identified empathy as a crucial ingredient in effective practice for health professionals, including midwifery. Equally, the role of spirituality has been recognised as enhancing the quality of the birth experience through the care, compassion and presence of the midwife. Yet literature discussing birthing women's lived experiences of caregiver empathy and spiritual care appears uncommon. Aim: The aim of this article is to highlight women's stories about midwives' empathy and spiritual care or lack thereof during birth, in order to contribute to the promotion of more empathic, spiritually aware midwifery practice. Methods: Ten interviews and seven focus groups were conducted with forty-eight women, including mothers, midwives and staff from a women's service. A secondary analysis of the data was conducted examining women's descriptions and reflections on midwives' levels of empathy and spiritual care. Findings: When midwives' empathy and spiritual care were evident, women's birth experiences appeared enhanced, providing a solid foundation for confident mothering. Conversely, participants appeared to link a lack of caregiver empathy, compassion or spiritual care with more enduring consequences, birth trauma and difficulty bonding with their babies. Conclusion: Midwives' empathy and spiritual care can play a key role in creating positive birth and mothering experiences. More research into the role of empathy and spiritual care in enhancing midwifery practice in all birth settings is recommended, as is the increased embeddedness of empathic regard and the notion of 'birth as sacred' into midwifery curricula. (C) 2015 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Australia (a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd). All rights reserved.