Statistics
2017 Health Manpower Survey on Midwives
Key Findings
1. The midwives covered in the 2017 Health Manpower Survey on Midwives (HMS-MW) were midwives registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong under the Midwives Registration Ordinance (Chapter 162) as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2017.
2. The number of midwives covered was 4 574.
3. Of the 4 574 midwives covered, 2 389 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 52.2%. Among the respondents, 1 863 (78.0%) were economically active*† (active) and 526 (22.0%) were economically inactive*‡ (inactive) in the local midwifery / nursing profession.
4. Of the 1 863 active midwives enumerated, 1 812 (97.3%) were practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession, 25 (1.3%) were seeking jobs, 17 (0.9%) were having temporary sickness and nine (0.5%) were expecting to return to their original jobs or waiting to take up a new job in midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before the survey.
5. The survey findings presented below were based on the 1 812 responding midwives who were practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession as at 31.8.2017. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses, rounding or presentation of key results.
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(i) |
Of the 1 812 active midwives enumerated, 1 673 (92.3%) indicated that they were holding valid practising certificates in registered nurses and / or enrolled nurses apart from valid practising certificates in midwifery, whilst 120 (6.6%) were only holding valid practising certificates in midwifery. |
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(ii) |
All the 1 812 active midwives enumerated were female. Apart from 50 midwives who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 1 762 active midwives enumerated was 52.0 years. |
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(iii) |
Distribution by sector of the main job§ showed that 1 106 (61.0%) were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by 302 (16.7%) in the private sector, 250 (13.8%) in the Government, 85 (4.7%) in the subvented sector and 60 (3.3%) in the academic sector. |
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(iv) |
Of the 1 812 active midwives enumerated, 31.6% spent most of their working time on obstetrics, followed by 10.0% on public health, 9.2% on administration / management, 9.1% on medicine, ambulatory / outpatients and surgery were both 5.8%, 5.5% on paediatrics, 4.8% on gynaecology, 3.9% on teaching and 3.6% on accident and emergency. |
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(v) |
The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 812 active midwives enumerated was 42.0 hours. Among them, 125 (6.9%) midwives were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 17.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week. |
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(vi) |
In terms of earliest basic qualification in midwifery / nursing profession, of the 1 812 active midwives enumerated, Student / Pupil Nurse Training accounted for 74.6%, whilst Bachelor’s Degree, Pupil Midwife Training and Higher Diploma accounted for 11.6%, 6.1% and 6.0% respectively. |
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* |
In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong. |
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† |
"Economically active" midwives comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" midwives. "Employed" midwives referred to those midwives practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" midwives referred to those midwives who (a) were not practising in the midwifery / nursing profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; AND (c) had sought work in the local midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
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‡ |
"Economically inactive" midwives comprised the midwives who were not practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, but excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were "economically active" but "unemployed". |
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§ |
Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the midwives had spent most of their working time. |
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(vii) |
Of the 1 812 active midwives enumerated, 1 797 (99.2%) had received / were receiving additional training, which is relevant to the midwifery / nursing profession after obtaining their earliest basic qualification. Among these 1797 active midwives, 605 (33.7%) held Bachelor’s Degree, 600 (33.4%) held Master’s Degree, 255 (14.2%) held diploma as the highest qualification and ten (0.6%) had not yet completed the additional training. |
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(viii) |
Of the 1 797 midwives who had received / were receiving additional training after obtaining their earliest basic qualification, 626 (34.8%) were trained in one field of additional training only. Among them, 92.7% were trained in midwifery, 2.2% in general nursing, and paediatric nursing and public health nursing were both 0.6%. |
6. Among the 526 inactive midwives:
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(i) |
461 (87.6%) midwives reported not practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before the survey. The reasons reported for not seeking job included: 267 (57.9%) were retired, 85 (18.4%) were engaged in household duties, 53 (11.5%) wanted to take rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, and 42 (9.1%) were working in other professions. |
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(ii) |
65 (12.4%) midwives reported practising overseas or in the Mainland. |
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Activity Status of Midwives Covered |