Midwife lecturers' views of their role and experiences of statutory supervision in a university setting

Statutory supervision is a system established in 1902 to inspect and regulate midwives practise, in order to protect women. It has developed subsequently to support midwives' practice whilst simultaneously protecting women. Drawing on a range ofliterature sources and topics, the study critically analyses the context in which midwife lecturers practise and evaluates how they make sense of statutory supervision. The theoretical framework for this qualitative study is based on social constructionism and relational autonomy. In order to analyse midwife lecturers' view of their role and experiences ofstatutory supervision in a University setting, the study is divided in two stages. The first stage is a questionnaire surveying the experiences of254 midwife teachers and 11 Local Supervising Authority Midwifery Officers (LSAMO) in England. The second stage involved semi-structured interviews with ten volunteers recruited from the survey. Results were analysed using voice centred relational analysis and framing analysis. Based on the analyses ofthe respondent's experiences, several themes emerged. Individuals define the meaning ofsupport differently which sometimes conflicts with the support available from statutory supervision: statutory supervision predefines who offers the support and cannot guarantee psychological safety. Support skills are essential for all midwives and essential in relationships with colleagues, students and users. Decisions regarding the fitness to practise of a midwife or student midwife should involve and welcome the participation and contribution of users ofthe service to promote greater accountability and openness. A national study should examine new ways ofworking for midwives based in higher education to create meaningful and manageable ways of blending an academic and midwifery identity.