There are high levels of burnout in midwifery. Support is essential for their welfare to be able to cope with the demands of their jobs. Supportive strategies, such as Clinical Supervision (CS), enable reflection in a facilitated, structured way, and can enhance professional standards and career development. We aimed to ascertain whether access to Group CS sessions reduced midwifery burnout rates, improved perceptions of workplace culture and reduced sick leave/ rates of leaving the profession. A cluster Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted comprising 12 maternity sites, with the intervention of monthly CS sessions from June 2022 to November 2024. Participants completed 6-monthly surveys including validated measurement tools. A multilevel mixed effects linear regression model was used to determine the effect of CS on the levels of burnout while controlling the effect of other variables. After adjusting for variables the intervention had significant effects on overall burnout (-2.30 (-4.50,-0.10), p-value =0.041) and work-related burnout (-2.70 (-5.23, -0.17) p=value= 0.036), while there were no significant changes to personal and client-related burnout. Midwives over 60, working in the community and having a positive perception of work culture were significantly associated with reduced levels of burnout. Having access to monthly Group CS reduced participants' overall and work-related burnout. Final results regarding the ability of the intervention to affect sick leave/midwives leaving their profession will be presented.

Christine has been a midwife for over 30 years. Currently she is the Conjoint Professor of Midwifery Research between UTS and Northern Sydney Local Health District and a Research Fellow investigating Clinical Supervision and its ability to support midwives. Previous roles include Director of Midwifery Studies and Discipline Lead within the Faculty of Health at UTS, Research Fellow with the UTS-based World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, Research Assistant within the Centre for Health Services Management and Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, Clinical Midwifery Consultant at St George Hospital, clinical midwife and antenatal educator. She is the immediate past co-lead of the Maternal and Women’s Clinical Academic Group for SPHERE (2019-2023). Her current research focus is on workplace culture in midwifery and supportive strategies to maintain the workforce.