Professional belonging and psychological empowerment among Turkish midwives: A cross-sectional study

This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to examine the professional belonging (PB) and psychological empowerment (PE) among midwives working in Türkiye. This study was conducted between March and June 2023 with 384 midwives recruited through voluntary online sampling. Data were collected using the Midwifery Belonging Scale (MBS) and Spreitzer Psychological Empowerment Scale (SPES). Midwives had a mean work experience of 12.04 years. The mean MBS and SPES scores were 92.96 and 69.76, respectively. A significant moderate positive correlation was found between PB and PE ( r = 0.394, p < 0.001). PB was significantly higher among midwives who reported sufficient professional rights, engaged in independent midwifery practice, worked in delivery rooms, had higher educational attainment, chose the profession by personal choice, were employed in private hospitals, and who worked in shift-based schedules ( p < 0.001). Developing a professional midwifery practice environment and enhancing PE may contribute to strengthening PB among midwives.