Psychosocial supports for staff in maternity hospitals and units following adverse events: A mapping study in the Republic of Ireland

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dc.contributor.authorHennessy, Marita
dc.contributor.authorO'Donoghue, Keelin
dc.contributor.funderIrish Research Council, GOIPD/2023/1168
dc.contributor.funderIrish Research Council
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-22T14:50:03Z
dc.date.available2026-05-22T14:50:03Z
dc.date.issued2026-03-30
dc.description.abstractBackground: Maternity staff commonly experience adverse events within their roles. Such events can have a profound impact, with a range of psychological impacts reported. Many maternity staff, however, report receiving inadequate support. The aim of this study is to establish the extent and nature of the provision of psychosocial supports for staff following adverse events in maternity hospitals and units in the Republic of Ireland. Methods: We administered a purposefully designed survey electronically to identified personnel in each of the 19 maternity hospitals and units from December 2023 to February 2024. The survey comprised primarily open-ended questions. Regarding staff supports following adverse events, respondents were asked whether they provided any of 13 pre-listed supports and they could add up to three additional supports. For each support provided, they were asked to detail its format, eligibility and access criteria, costs, evaluation, perceived uptake and impact, and any adaptations made over time. We analysed data descriptively, coding open-ended responses into explicit categories generated from the data and reporting frequencies, as per responses to closed questions. Results: We received completed responses on the staff survey from 18 of 19 maternity hospitals and units. All but one site (n = 17) reported the provision of at least one form of psychosocial support following adverse events, with numbers ranging from 2 to 10 (mode = 6). The most frequently reported supports offered were Employee Assistance Programme (n = 16, 89%); Occupational Health (n = 15, 83%); Clinical Supervision (n = 10, 56%); After Action Review (n = 9, 50%). Varied information was provided about each of the supports within and across sites. While staff listed supports that were available in their hospital, they were unable to provide much detail regarding these, particularly regarding their evaluation, uptake and impact. There was also confusion between the different types of supports, especially relating to various forms of debriefing. Conclusions: This study maps the provision of psychological supports for staff in maternity hospitals and units in the Republic of Ireland following adverse events. Further research is needed to better understand what the optimal staff supports are, and what factors influence their implementation, to enhance uptake and impacts.en
dc.description.statusPeer reviewed
dc.description.versionPublished Version
dc.format.extent16
dc.format.extent1555231
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.articleid672
dc.identifier.authororcidHennessy, Marita§0000-0001-7742-8118
dc.identifier.authororcidO'Donoghue, Keelin§0000-0002-4616-2887
dc.identifier.citationHennessy, M. and O'Donoghue, K. (2026) 'Psychosocial supports for staff in maternity hospitals and units following adverse events: A mapping study in the Republic of Ireland', BMC Health Services Research, 26, 672(16pp). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-14465-7
dc.identifier.doi10.1186/s12913-026-14465-7
dc.identifier.endpage16
dc.identifier.issn1472-6963
dc.identifier.journaltitleBMC Health Services Research
dc.identifier.startpage1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/18844
dc.identifier.volume26
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer Nature
dc.rights© 2026, The Author(s). Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectChildren
dc.subjectSDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
dc.subjectAdverse events
dc.subjectVicarious trauma
dc.subjectMaternity care
dc.subjectMidwifery
dc.subjectObstetrics
dc.subjectPsychosocial intervention
dc.subjectStress
dc.subject[INFANT]
dc.titlePsychosocial supports for staff in maternity hospitals and units following adverse events: A mapping study in the Republic of Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (Peer reviewed)
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