Midwives’ knowledge, attitudes and confidence in discussing maternal and childhood immunisation with parents: A national study

Frawley, JE; McKenzie, K; Sinclair, L; Cummins, A; Wardle, J; Hall, H

Midwives’ knowledge, attitudes and confidence in discussing maternal and childhood immunisation with parents: A national study

Frawley, JE

McKenzie, K Sinclair, L

Cummins, A

Wardle, J

Hall, H

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Vaccine, 2020, 38 (2), pp. 366 - 371
Issue Date:: 2020-01-10

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Frawley, JE https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6037-0140	en_US
dc.contributor.author	McKenzie, K	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Sinclair, L https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4209-9745	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cummins, A https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-3365	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wardle, J https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8813-3542	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hall, H	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-10-15T18:02:27Z
dc.date.issued	2020-01-10	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Vaccine, 2020, 38 (2), pp. 366 - 371	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0264-410X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/137164
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Introduction: Despite the enormous benefits of childhood and maternal immunisation to individual and population health, the uptake of maternal vaccines during pregnancy remains suboptimal. Midwives are a trusted information source for parents and play an important role in the provision of immunisation information. Understanding midwives’ attitudes and vaccine knowledge, along with their confidence to discuss maternal and childhood immunisation with parents, is key to reducing parental decisional conflict and achieving immunisation goals. Methods: An online study was conducted to investigate midwives’ knowledge and attitudes towards maternal and childhood vaccination along with their confidence to answer parents' vaccine-related questions. Midwives were recruited by email via the midwifery peek body, the Australian College of Midwives. Results: A total of 359 midwives completed the online survey. The majority of midwives supported maternal (influenza 83%, pertussis 90.5%) and childhood immunisation (85.8%); however, 69.4% of respondents wanted further training about immunisation. Midwives who felt their midwifery education adequately covered immunisation were more confident advising parents about maternal (p = 0.007) and childhood immunisation (p < 0.001). Similarly, Midwives were significantly more likely to confidently advise parents about maternal (p < 0.001) and childhood immunisations (p < 0.001) if they had completed a specific immunisation training course outside of their midwifery course. Conclusion: Most midwives working in Australia support vaccination. However, access to contemporary, culturally appropriate education that enables midwives to engage confidently with parents about immunisation is lacking. Education based on a women-centred approach within the pre-registration curriculum along with continuing professional development programs could enable midwives to reduce the evidence to practice gap by increasing vaccine uptake.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1124075
dc.relation.ispartof	Vaccine	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.10.006	en_US
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.classification	Virology	en_US
dc.title	Midwives’ knowledge, attitudes and confidence in discussing maternal and childhood immunisation with parents: A national study	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	38	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Midwifery
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	38	en_US

Abstract:

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Introduction: Despite the enormous benefits of childhood and maternal immunisation to individual and population health, the uptake of maternal vaccines during pregnancy remains suboptimal. Midwives are a trusted information source for parents and play an important role in the provision of immunisation information. Understanding midwives’ attitudes and vaccine knowledge, along with their confidence to discuss maternal and childhood immunisation with parents, is key to reducing parental decisional conflict and achieving immunisation goals. Methods: An online study was conducted to investigate midwives’ knowledge and attitudes towards maternal and childhood vaccination along with their confidence to answer parents' vaccine-related questions. Midwives were recruited by email via the midwifery peek body, the Australian College of Midwives. Results: A total of 359 midwives completed the online survey. The majority of midwives supported maternal (influenza 83%, pertussis 90.5%) and childhood immunisation (85.8%); however, 69.4% of respondents wanted further training about immunisation. Midwives who felt their midwifery education adequately covered immunisation were more confident advising parents about maternal (p = 0.007) and childhood immunisation (p < 0.001). Similarly, Midwives were significantly more likely to confidently advise parents about maternal (p < 0.001) and childhood immunisations (p < 0.001) if they had completed a specific immunisation training course outside of their midwifery course. Conclusion: Most midwives working in Australia support vaccination. However, access to contemporary, culturally appropriate education that enables midwives to engage confidently with parents about immunisation is lacking. Education based on a women-centred approach within the pre-registration curriculum along with continuing professional development programs could enable midwives to reduce the evidence to practice gap by increasing vaccine uptake.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/137164