Exploring community midwives' perceptions of their work experience after deployment in the rural areas of Chitral, Pakistan

Aims:To explore the perceptions of community midwives about their work experiences after deployment in the rural settings of Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Methods:A qualitative descriptive approach was used, conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews with 13 community midwives.Findings:The three major themes that emerged from the analysis of the data were: (1) rural community midwives' perceptions of their role and competencies, (2) factors facilitating and hindering the rural community midwives' ability to function, and (3) continuation of community midwives' services in the future.Conclusions:The study findings highlighted the factors that empower and obstruct community midwives in providing services in rural areas. The majority of the community midwives felt empowered because of their increased earning capacity and enhanced competencies in performing their roles. However, some of them shared challenges in terms of socio-cultural and financial constraints. These findings have important implications for midwives working in rural areas.