Perspectives of Canadian Midwives on Nutrition for Pregnancy
Abstract
Limited data exists on Canadian midwives’ experiences with nutrition for pregnancy. An anonymous e-survey was distributed via midwifery associations’ e-newsletters, social media, and clinics’ public e-mail addresses to explore Canadian midwives’ nutrition attitudes, education, and recommendations.
Almost all (99.4%) of the 161 respondents provided nutrition advice to pregnant women and almost two-thirds (63.7%) received nutrition training. Midwives had positive attitudes towards nutrition (median=5 on scale where 1=very unimportant and 5=very important) and their comfort levels in advising on nutrition topics ranged from moderate to high. An average of 85.3% of their recommendations aligned with Health Canada pregnancy guidelines and relevant literature. There was no difference in the number of recommendations that align with guidelines between midwives who received nutrition education (16.4/19) and those who did not (15.9/19; p=0.13).
Overall, Canadian midwives provide nutrition advice with comfort and knowledge that has no relationship to whether they received formal nutrition education.