Why midwives stay - Frankies research recognised
What makes a midwife want to stay? That’s the question behind award-winning research undertaken by Frankie Finch, an endorsed clinical midwife at the Midwifery Birth Centre at Bentley.
Frankie has just been named the 2026 winner of the Elsevier Caroline Homer Writers Prize for her research paper Understanding midwifery workforce retention: An Australian cross-sectional study, published in Women and Birth, the official journal of the Australian College of Midwives.
For Frankie, it was an unexpected honour to receive this accolade.
“Women and Birth is the premier midwifery journal in Australia and highly respected. To even be considered as a contender is a privilege, so to win is just mind-blowing.”
Frankie spent 12 months working on the research as part of a clinician researcher program, exploring why midwives choose to stay, or why they consider leaving their jobs.
“There are major issues with midwifery retention across health services and worldwide,” Frankie explained.
Her research paper revealed that the top two factors influencing midwives’ intention to stay were pay (89.6 per cent) and patient to midwife ratios that reflect workload and acuity.
But Frankie’s research shows that retention is about more than just money.
“The most significant finding was that there was a statistically significant relationship between intention to leave, the profile of the midwifery profession within the organisation and perceptions of workplace culture,” Frankie outlined.
“Midwives are more likely to stay when they feel valued, supported and respected, have manageable workloads, good relationships with colleagues and a positive workplace.”
Her paper also outlined that midwives want a voice in their work and the midwifery profession recognised for the important role it plays.
Frankie’s research could now help inform public policy in Australia and contribute to future conversations about how health services can retain experienced midwives.
“Women and Birth is the premier midwifery journal in Australia and highly respected. To even be considered as a contender is a privilege, so to win is just mind-blowing.”
– Frankie Finch