A phenomenological study of the effects of clinical negligence litigation on midwives in England: The personal perspective

midwives come from a caring and relational paradigm. When interfacing with the adversarial and contentious paradigm of tort law, midwives can abreact and suffer emotional, physical and psychological harm. Support for midwives experiencing litigation must be improved. Implications for practice: Understanding the effects of personal involvement in litigation is important in order to improve the quality of support for this group of midwives. It will also aid development of targeted education for undergraduate, post-graduate and in-service midwives. In the longer term it may help policy makers when considering reform of clinical negligence litigation and NHS employers to structure support mechanisms for staff involved.