Statistics

2021 Health Manpower Survey on Midwives

Key Findings

The midwives covered in the 2021 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 of 31 July 2021, and had provided written consent on receiving information related to HMS-MW by post or email.

Among the 4 400 midwives registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong as at the survey reference date of 31 July 2021, 1 458 had consented to receive information related to HMS-MW by post or email. The number of midwives covered was 1 458.

Of the 1 458 midwives covered, 560 responded to the HMS-MW, giving an overall response rate of 38.4% (See Chart).

Among the 560 responding midwives, 404 (72.1%) were “active” ^*† and 156 (27.9%) were “inactive” ^*‡ in the local midwifery / nursing profession as at 31 July 2021 (See Chart).

Among the 404 active midwives, 395 (97.8%) were practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession, four (1.0%) were seeking jobs in the midwifery / nursing profession, four (1.0%) reported that they had not been available for work because of temporary sickness and one (0.2%) reported that she was available for work but had not sought work during the 30 days before enumeration as she was expecting to return to her original job in the local midwifery / nursing profession.

The survey findings presented below were based on the 395 responding midwives who were practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession as at 31 July 2021. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding (See Chart).

All the 395 active midwives practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession enumerated were female. Excluding one respondent who did not indicate her age, the median age of the remaining 394 active midwives was 56.0 years. Among them, those aged 55 to 59 years accounted for the largest proportion (38.0%), followed by those aged 60 to 64 years (18.0%) and those aged 50 to 54 years (17.2%).
The responding active midwives practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs§. Among the 395 respondents, 211 (53.4%) of them reported as working in the Hospital Authority, 80 (20.3%) in the private sector, 62 (15.7%) in the Government, 23 (5.8%) in the subvented sector and 17 (4.3%) in the academic sector.

*	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.
†	Economically active (“active”) midwives included: (a) “employed” midwives - midwives practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; and (b) “unemployed” midwives - midwives who (i) were not practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession during the survey period; (ii) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey AND (iii) had sought work in the local midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before the survey. The respondent would be classified as “unemployed” if he / she had sought work in the local midwifery / nursing profession but had not been available for work because of temporary sickness. The respondent would also be classified as “unemployed” if he / she fulfilled conditions (i) and (ii) but had not sought work during the 30 days before enumeration because he / she believed that work was not available; or had made arrangements to take up a new job; or was starting business on a subsequent date; or was expecting to return to the original job in the local midwifery / nursing profession.
‡	Economically inactive (“inactive”) midwives referred to the responding midwives who were not practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, excluding those who were on leave during the survey period and who were “economically active” but “unemployed”.
§	Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the midwives had spent most of their working time.

Of the 395 active midwives practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession enumerated, 30.4% spent most of their working time on obstetrics, while 12.2% reported spending most of their working time on public health, 9.6% reported administration / management and 9.4% reported ambulatory care / outpatients as the main area of work.
The median number of hours of work per week (excluding meal breaks) of the 395 active midwives practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession enumerated was 40.0 hours, amongst which 38 (9.6%) were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 12.5 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.
Among the 395 respondents, 65.6% had received Student / Pupil Nurse Training, 14.4% held Bachelor’s Degree, 6.8% received Pupil Midwife Training and 6.6% held Higher Diploma as their earliest basic qualification*.
Of the 395 active midwives practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession enumerated, 389 (98.5%) had received / were receiving additional training after obtaining their earliest basic qualification, amongst which 113 (29.0%) held Master’s Degree, 103 (26.5%) held Bachelor’s Degree, 103 (26.5%) held Diploma as the highest qualification and two (0.5%) had not yet completed the additional training.
Of the 389 respondents who had received / were receiving additional training after obtaining their earliest basic qualification, 153 (39.3%) had received / were receiving training in one field only, which included training in midwifery (94.1%), emergency / first aid nursing (2.0%), nursing administration (1.3%) and public health nursing (1.3%).

Among the 156 inactive midwives (See Chart) :

146 (93.6%) reported not seeking jobs in the midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before enumeration. Among the 146 inactive midwives who reported not seeking jobs in the midwifery / nursing profession, the main reasons included: 108 (74.0%) were retired, 12 (8.2%) wanted to take rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, ten (6.8%) were engaged in household duties, nine (6.2%) were emigrated and seven (4.8%) were working in other professions.
Ten (6.4%) midwives reported practising overseas.

Earliest basic qualification refers to the minimum entry qualification to the midwifery / nursing profession obtained by the midwives. If the midwives had the minimum entry qualifications in both nursing and midwifery professions, they were requested to choose the earlier qualification that they had obtained between these two qualifications as the earliest basic qualification.

Chart A : Activity Status of Midwives Covered

Text Version

Notes:	*	Figure refers to the number of midwives who had registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong under the Midwives Registration Ordinance (Chapter 162) on or before 31.7.2021 and who had provided written consent to receive information related to HMS-MW by post or email.
	†	Figure refers to the number of responding midwives who (a) were not practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong 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.
	‡	Figure refers to the number of responding midwives who (a) were not practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; AND (c) had not sought work during the 30 days before enumeration because he/ she believed that work was not available; or had made arrangements to take up a new job; or was starting business on a subsequent date; or was expecting to return to the original job in the local midwifery / nursing profession.
	§	Figure refers to the number of responding midwives who reported emigrated.
		Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.