Abstract:
Emotional distress associated with the death of human beings cannot be underestimated.
Much as it affects the immediate family members, midwives who witness
death of pregnant patients are not spared the emotional distress. Emotional distress
affects the general health, behaviour, productivity and job satisfaction of nurses and
midwives. However, there is inadequate literature on how midwives in the Ashanti
Region of Ghana become emotionally distressed after they experience maternal
death. This study sought to explore and describe lived experiences of midwives’
emotional distress over maternal death at work using a qualitative approach. The
study consisted of 57 participants (18 supervisors and 39 ward midwives) selected
using the purposive sampling technique. Data collection was done through focus
group discussions using semi-structured interviews. The responses collected were
managed by qualitative computer data analysis package (Atlas.ti version 7.1.7) and
the Thematic Content Analysis was used for analyzing the data. Four major themes
emerged from this study: feeling sad or bad, traumatised, disorganised, and death
seen as unpleasant, painful and inhumane. Main recommendation embodied institution
of support programmes in hospitals without them, to help workers cope with
such distress, help lessen the distress that midwives go through, improve quality of
services provided, as well as provide job satisfaction.
