The future midwifery workforce: A survey of the education experiences of midwifery students in Australia.

Aim: To understand students' views on and experiences of their pre-registration midwifery education in Australia, including continuity of care experiences and clinical practice placements and their preferences for future employment.

Background: Increasing the number of midwifery student enrolments and improving student experience are suggested solutions to shortages in the Australian midwifery workforce.

Design: An anonymous online survey.

Methods: Open to students currently enrolled in an education programme leading to Australian midwifery registration or who had recently completed such a programme but had not yet commenced employment. Quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests. Frequency counts and inductive content analysis were used to analyse qualitative data. This research was undertaken as part of the national Midwifery Futures project.

Results: A total of 303 eligible responses were received. While most students felt their midwifery education prepared them well for future practice, a third (n = 93/281, 33.1 %) had taken or were considering leave and more than half (n = 161/281, 57.3 %) had considered withdrawing. Continuity of care experiences were highly valued by students as an educational experience. Nearly all students (n = 257/278, 92.4 %) preferred future employment in a clinical midwifery role and most (n = 206/257, 80.2 %) wished to work in midwifery group practice or team midwifery service in a public hospital.

Conclusions: Midwifery students in Australia felt well-prepared by their education programmes to practice midwifery. However, many students also found meeting the requirements of their degree challenging. Further research and efforts are required to support students to complete their midwifery education.