Statistics

2011 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 2011 HMS were midwives registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong under the Midwives Registration Ordinance (Chapter 162) as at the survey reference date – 31.8.2011 and had to renew their practising certificates in 2011.

1.2   The number of midwives covered was 4 125.

1.3 Of the 4 125 midwives covered, 2 848 had responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 69.0%.  Among the respondents, 2 338 were economically active* ^† (active) in the local midwifery / nursing profession as at 31.8.2011 and 510 reported to be economically inactive* ^‡ (inactive) in the local midwifery / nursing profession (Chart A) .

*   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 local 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 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”.

1.4   Of the 2 338 active midwives enumerated, 23 were seeking jobs, four were having temporary sickness and 11 were expecting to return to their original jobs, waiting to take up new jobs in the local midwifery / nursing profession during or starting business in the midwifery / nursing profession at subsequent date during the 30 days before the survey.  The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on the 2 300 responding midwives who were practising in the local midwifery / nursing profession as at 31.8.2011.  As some information was missing from certain questionnaires, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.

1.5   Of the 510 inactive midwives, 81 reported practising overseas / in the Mainland and 429 reported not seeking jobs in the local midwifery / nursing profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A) .  Among the 429 inactive midwives who reported not seeking jobs, the main reasons reported for not seeking jobs included: 187 (43.6%) were retired, 105 (24.5%) were engaged in household duties, 69 (16.1%) wanted to take rest / having no motive to work / having no financial need and 51 (11.9%) were working in other professions, etc.

Chart A : Activity Status of Midwives Covered

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1.6 All the 2 300 active midwives enumerated were female.  Apart from 22 midwives who did not indicate their age,  the median age of the remaining 2 278 active midwives enumerated was 48.0 years.  Among the active midwives enumerated, those aged 45 to 49 years  accounted for the largest proportion (32.0%), followed by those aged 50 to 54 years (25.6%) and 40 to 44 years (17.6%).

1.7 The responding active midwives were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*.  Distribution by sector for the main jobs showed that more than half (63.0%) of the active midwives enumerated were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by those working in the private sector (16.7%), the Government (14.0%), the subvented sector (3.1%) and the academic sector (2.9%).

1.8 The median age of the active midwives enumerated was 51.0 years for those working in the academic sector, followed by 50.0 years for those working in the Government and the subvented sector, 49.0 years for those working in the private sector and 48.0 years for those working in the Hospital Authority.

1.9 Of the 2 300 active midwives enumerated, 26.0% spent most of their working time on obstetrics, followed by 11.3% on medicine, 10.2% on administration / management, 10.0% on public health, 7.4% on surgery, 6.3% on paediatrics and 5.6% on ambulatory / outpatients.

1.10 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 2 300 active midwives enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 219 (9.5%) midwives were required to undertake on-call duty, with a median of 24.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

* Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the midwives had spent most of their working time.

1.11 Of the 2 300 active midwives enumerated, most held Student / Pupil Nurse Training (85.2%), 6.3% held Pupil Midwife Training and 4.7% held Bachelor’s Degree as their basic qualifications.

1.12  Of the 2 300 active midwives enumerated, 2 020 (87.8%) received / were receiving additional training and 280 (12.2%) did not receive any additional training.  Of the 2 020 active midwives with additional training, six (0.3%) had not yet completed the additional training, 943 (46.7%) held Bachelor’s Degree, 564 (27.9%) held Master’s Degree and 282 (14.0%) held Certificate as the highest qualification.

1.13 Of the 2 020 midwives who received / were receiving additional training, 25.0% were trained in midwifery, 8.1% in general nursing, 6.3% in public health nursing and 5.7% in nursing administration.

1.14 Of the 2 020 midwives who received / were receiving additional training, 975 (48.3%) were trained in one field of additional training.  Among them, 30.7% were trained in midwifery, 12.5% in general nursing, 10.7% in public health nursing and 4.3% in nursing administration.

1.15  Regarding Post-registration Education in Midwifery (PEM) / Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) activities, 1 969 (85.6%) of the active midwives revealed that they had participated in PEM / CNE activities in 2011, 300 (13.0%) did not participate in any PEM / CNE activities and 31 (1.3%) did not reveal whether they had participated in PEM / CNE or not.  Among the 1 969 active midwives 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 (12.5%), 6 to10 points / hours (12.5%), 11 to 15 points / hours (17.3%), 16 to 20 points / hours (13.3%) and more than 20 points / hours (44.3%).

II.    Trend Analysis

2.1.1 Comparison of findings with those surveys before 2004 should be cautious as the survey methodology and reference date had been changed.

2.1.2   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 and 2011 are as follows:

Ø 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.

Ø All registered midwives who had valid practising certificates as at 31.8.2005 were covered in 2005.

Ø The midwives covered in 2008 and 2011 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.

2.1.3   The number of midwives covered increased from 147 in 2000 to 4 125 in 2011 (Chart B) .

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

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2.2 The mean age of the active midwives enumerated increased from 42.3 years in 1987 to 48.6 years in 2011.

2.3 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 has been the largest employer since its set up in 1991, while the proportion of active midwives employed in the Government, academic and subvented sectors decreased to 14.0%, 2.9% and 3.1% respectively in 2011.  On the other hand, the proportion working in private sector increased gradually from 9.1% in 1987 to 16.7% in 2011 (Table A).

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

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Characteristics	Year
	1987	1990	1992	1996	2000	2004 §	2005	2008	20 11
A.   Midwives Covered *	–	–	–	–	147	229	5 125	4 361	4 125
B.   Active Midwives Enumerated
Number Enumerated	352	315	222	154	136	33	2 881	2 926	2 300
Mean Age	42.3	45.3	46.3	48.7	51.2	50.8	43.2	46.0	4 8.6
Median Age	–	–	–	–	51. 0	5 2.0	43. 0	46.0	4 8.0
Sector for Work †
Government	252	207	86	71	56	6	426	439	322
	(71.6%)	(65.7%)	(38.7%)	(46.1%)	(41.2%)	(18.2%)	(14.8%)	(15.0%)	(1 4 .0%)
Hospital Authority	N.A.	N.A.	103	60	43	15	1 981	1 966	1 450
			(46.4%)	(39.0%)	(31.6%)	(45.5%)	(68.8%)	(67.2%)	(6 3.0 %)
Academic & Subvented	68	66	0	0	0	0	152	162	1 39
	(19.3%)	(21.0%)	(0.0%)	(0.0%)	(0.0%)	(0.0%)	(5.3%)	(5.5%)	( 6.0 %)
Private	32	42	33	23	37 ‡	11	312	356	3 84
	(9.1%)	(13.3%)	(14.9%)	(14.9%)	(27.2%)	(33.3%)	(10.8%)	(12.2%)	(1 6.7 %)
Unknown	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	1	10	3	5
						(3.0%)	(0.3%)	(0.1%)	(0. 2 %)

Notes :

* Figure of 2000 refers to the number of registered midwives without registered nurses and enrolled nurses qualification and reported by the responding institutions as at 1.7.2000, whereas the figure of 2004 refers to the number of registered midwives (excluding registered nurses or enrolled nurses holding valid practising certificates in midwifery as at 31.8.2004) registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong as at 31.8.2004. Figure of 2005 refers to the number of midwives registered with Midwives Council of Hong Kong and who were holding valid practising certificates as at 31.8.2005, whereas figures of 2008 and 2011 refer to the number of midwives registered with the Midwives Council of Hong Kong as at the 31st of August of the respective years and had to renew their practising certificates in respective years. †  In 2004,  2005, 2008 and 2011, the sector refers to the sector for the main jobs. ‡  Included academic sector. §  As the number of active registered midwives involved was very small, interpretation of the corresponding statistics should be cautious. There may be slight discrepancy between the sum of individual items and the total due to rounding. N.A. Not applicable ‘-’  Not available

Department of Health
The Government of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region
June 2012