Statistics

2014 Health Manpower Survey

Summary of the Characteristics of Registered Midwives Enumerated

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I.    Registered Midwives Covered

1.1  The midwives covered in the 2014 HMS were midwives registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong under the Midwives Registration Ordinance (Chapter 162) as at the survey reference date– 31.8.2014 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2014.

1.2  The number of midwives covered was 3 968.

1.3  Of the 3 968 midwives covered, 2 279 had responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 57.4%. Among the respondents, 1 825 (80.1%) were economically active*† (active) in the local midwifery / nursing profession as at 31.8.2014 and 454 (19.9%) reported to be economically inactive*‡ (inactive) in the local midwifery / nursing profession.

1.4  Of the 1 825 active midwives, 1 796 (98.4%) were practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession, 24 (1.3%) were seeking jobs, three (0.2%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness and two (0.1%) were expecting to return to their original jobs in the local midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on the 1 796 responding midwives who were practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession as at 31.8.2014. As certain questionnaires contained missing information, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.

1.5  Of the 454 inactive midwives, 62 reported practising overseas / in the Mainland and 392 midwives reported not seeking job in the local midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before the survey. Among the 392 inactive midwives who reported not seeking jobs in the local midwifery / nursing profession, the main reasons included: 222 (56.6%) were retired, 74 (18.9%) were engaged in household duties, 50 (12.8%) wanted to take rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need and 30 (7.7%) were working in other professions, etc.

*   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" 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.

‡   "Economically inactive" midwives comprised the midwives who were not practising in the midwifery / nursing profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were "economically active" but "unemployed".

Chart A : Activity Status of Midwives Covered

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1.6   All the 1 796 active midwives enumerated were female. Apart from 44 midwives who did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 1 752 active midwives enumerated was 51.0 years. Among the active midwives enumerated, those aged 50 to 54 years accounted for a larger proportion (32.7%), followed by those aged 45 to 49 years (25.0%) and 55 to 59 years (18.7%).

1.7   The responding active midwives were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*. Distribution by sector for the main job showed that more than half (62.0%) of the active midwives were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by those working in the Government (15.3%), the private sector (15.1%), the subvented sector (4.1%) and the academic sector (3.3%).

1.8   The median age of the active midwives enumerated was 52.0 years for those working in the Government, academic, subvented and private sectors, followed by 50.0 years for those working in the Hospital Authority.

1.9   Of the 1 796 active midwives enumerated, 26.4% spent most of their working time on obstetrics, followed by 10.5% on public health, 10.1% on medicine, 9.2% on administration / management, 7.9% on ambulatory / outpatients, 6.9% on surgery and 6.2% on paediatrics.

1.10   The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 796 active midwives enumerated was 42.0 hours. Among them, 116 (6.5%) were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 22.5 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

1.11   Of the 1 796 active midwives enumerated, 84.0% held Student / Pupil Nurse Training, 6.6% held Pupil Midwife Training and 4.8% held Bachelor’s Degree as their basic qualifications*.

1.12   Of the 1 796 active midwives enumerated, 1 589 (88.5%) received / were receiving additional training. Of the 1 589 active midwives enumerated with additional training, four (0.3%) had not yet completed the additional training, 677 (42.6%) held Bachelor’s Degree, 551 (34.7%) held Master’s Degree and 160 (10.1%) held Certificate as the highest qualification.

*  Basic qualification refers to the minimum entry qualification to the midwifery / nursing profession obtained by the registered midwives. If the midwives had the basic qualifications in both nursing and midwifery professions, they were requested to indicate the earlier minimum entry qualification among these basic qualifications that they obtained.

1.13  Of the 1 589 active midwives who received / were receiving additional training, some of them selected more than one field of additional training. The total number of count of active midwives who received / were receiving additional training was 3 025, in which 25.0% were trained in midwifery, 9.1% in general nursing, 7.3% in public health nursing and 5.0% in nursing administration.

1.14   Of the 1 589 active midwives who received / were receiving additional training, 790 (49.7%) were trained / receiving training in one field. Among them, 30.0% were trained / receiving training in midwifery, 12.7% in general nursing, 11.8% in public health nursing, 4.4% in nursing administration and 4.3% in emergency / first aid nursing.

1.15   Regarding Post-registration Education in Midwifery (PEM) / Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) activities, 1 546 (86.1%) of the active midwives reported that they had participated in PEM / CNE activities in 2014, 226 (12.6%) had not participated in any PEM / CNE activities and 24 (1.3%) did not report whether they had participated in PEM / CNE or not. Among the 1 546 active midwives enumerated who had participated in PEM / CNE activities, the distribution of PEM / CNE points / hours attained in the past 12 months was: 1 to 5 points / hours (12.6%), 6 to 10 points / hours (11.4%), 11 to 15 points / hours (19.5%), 16 to 20 points / hours (15.0%) and more than 20 points / hours (41.5%).

II.   Trend Analysis

2.1   Comparison of findings of the 2014 HMS with those surveys before 2004 should be made with caution as the survey methodology and reference date had been changed.

2.2   Active registered midwives practising in the institutions enumerated were covered in the HMS before 2004. With the introduction of practising certificate by the Midwives Council in January 2000, the method adopted in counting registered midwives were changed to include registered midwives who had valid practising certificates in midwifery as at the survey reference date. Survey coverage for 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014 are as follows:

• Only registered midwives who had valid practising certificates in midwifery as at the survey reference date and who had no valid practising certificate in registered nurses or enrolled nurses were covered in 2004.
• All registered midwives who had valid practising certificates as at 31.8.2005 were covered in 2005.
• The midwives covered in 2008, 2011 and 2014 were midwives registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong as at 31st of August of the respective years and had to renew their practising certificates in respective years.

2.3   The number of midwives covered increased from 147 in 2000 to 3 968 in 2014.

Chart B :   Number of Registered Midwives Covered by Year (2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014)

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2.4   The mean age of the active midwives enumerated increased from 42.3 years in 1987 to 50.4 years in 2014.

2.5   From 1987 to 1990, the largest proportion of active midwives enumerated were working in the Government, followed by the academic and subvented sectors, which together employed about 90% of the midwives. The Hospital Authority had been the largest employer since its setup in 1991, while the proportion of active midwives employed in the Government, subvented and academic sectors decreased to 15.3%, 4.1% and 3.3% respectively in 2014. On the other hand, the proportion of active midwives working in the private sector increased from 9.1% in 1987 to 15.1% in 2014.

Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Midwives Enumerated (1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014)

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