Evaluation of the Knowledge and Opinions of the Midwife Registered to the Graduate Education Program on ‘Forensic Permission’

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge and opinions of midwives registered in the postgraduate education program in our country about forensic midwifery and to determine the need in this field.

Methods: The study, which was planned as a cross-sectional study, was carried out with students registered in universities with Midwifery Department and postgraduate education programs in our country. The "Informed Consent" form was sent to the contact addresses of the students and the "Survey Form" and "Forensic Midwifery Information Form" were sent to those who accepted (n=65). Data; It was recorded in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows 22 program and analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test, and Fisher's Exact Chi-Square test was used for further analysis. The significance level criterion was taken as p<0.05.

Results: Of the midwives who participated in the study, 66.2% were aged 30 and under, 76.9% were registered to a master's degree, 23% were registered to a doctoral program, and 55.4% were working for 'more than five years', 49.2% faced judicial cases, 26.2% notification has been found. 89.2% of the midwives think that there should be a branch of 'Forensic Midwifery', only 24.6% of the midwives have received training on the subject, and those who do not feel themselves inadequate. While 76.9% of the midwives wanted Forensic Midwifery to be a separate discipline, all of them stated that there is a need for forensic midwives in Turkey and that education on this subject should be in the undergraduate curriculum.

Conclusion:  As a result of the research; It has been determined that there is a need for forensic midwifery in our country and that midwives with specific knowledge in this field should be trained. The fact that midwives mainly work with women and children, and the abundance of forensic cases related to obstetrics and gynecology increases the likelihood of midwives to encounter forensic cases. Forensic midwifery, a new specialty, can act as a bridge to bridge the gap between law and medicine.