Trying to Control the Situation: A Theory of Iranian Midwives’ Experiences of the Coping Process with their Professional Roles Following COVID-19

BACKGROUND: Midwives are at the frontlines of the fight against the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Working under these circumstances threatens their lives and that of their family members; midwives’ adjustment to work increases their efficiency in providing care services to pregnant mothers, but midwives’ coping process is ambiguous and complex. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the coping process of midwives with their professional roles following COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted using grounded theory during 2020 to 2021. For this purpose, 30 midwives were purposively and theoretically selected from two educational hospitals and health centers in Mashhad and Torbat Heydarieh cities, Iran. The data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using the Strauss and Corbin method (2008) in MAXQDA software. RESULTS: The main concern of the participants was “perception of the threats to their health” and the core category revealed from the data was “trying to control the situation.” Midwives coped with the COVID-19 pandemic in four steps, namely early initial confrontation, reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, management of challenges, and reconstructing. Support from family and the health system and religious belief were the interventional conditions in this theory. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study can be used to provide health managers with a better understanding of the conditions affecting the coping strategies of midwives with their professional roles during COVID-19. Therefore, this study provides the required data for developing an effective intervention to help nurse midwives to cope with this issue.