BACKGROUND:
A sustainable midwifery workforce is vital to ensure high-quality maternity care. As many midwives leave or consider leaving their clinical work this poses a threat to service stability and care quality. Identifying midwives’ work-related intentions and reasons to remain, leave or to return to clinical positions is crucial for developing effective retention strategies.

OBJECTIVES:
This study aims to explore midwives’ self-reported reasons for leaving, remaining in, or returning to clinical positions in Norway.

METHODS:
This study is part of the national project CompMid. Midwives residing in Norway, both practicing and non-practicing, are invited to participate through the two main national associations representing midwives (n ≈ 4500), targeted social media posts, and a snowball sampling approach. The questionnaire is open for participation from May to September 2025, with a planned follow-up 12 months later. Data collected include sociodemographic and professional background, work-related intentions (measured using the Turnover Intention Scale), and reasons for leaving or remaining in clinical work. Midwives who have left clinical practice are asked about their motivations for leaving and for potential return. Multivariable analyses will examine associations between background factors, burnout, midwifery empowerment, and future work intentions.

RESULTS:
Data collection is ongoing, with over 900 participants enrolled to date. Findings from the baseline will be presented at the congress, including descriptive statistics and emerging patterns related to midwives’ reasons for leaving, staying in, or returning to clinical positions.

CONCLUSIONS:
Findings from the baseline will be discussed at the congress.

KEY MESSAGE:
By identifying midwives’ work-related intentions and reasons to remain, leave or to return to clinical positions, this project will inform strategies to strengthen workforce retention. Poster session 4 (Group B)