The Use of Internet Resources by Midwives in New Zealand

The Internet is growing every day as a source of knowledge and medium for exchange of information. Midwives are beginning to recognise its potential for networking and collaboration, as well as a research tool for accessing evidence-based information that can be utilised in practice. This thesis explores the use of the Internet by midwives in New Zealand. It describes a pilot study, which took the opportunity to trial the use of the Internet as a research tool. The pilot study also tested a survey designed to discover how midwives regard and utilise the potential of the Internet to revolutionise the provision of maternity care. The sample for this study was a convenience sample of 54 midwives working in New Zealand. The midwives were invited by personal email to access the web site and complete the questionnaire. The data were then transferred by electronic transmission into the research database, and analysed by SPSS computer software. The data generated were nominal and descriptive statistics were used. This pilot study has shown that there is a population of midwives in New Zealand who regularly use the Internet for searching information, which they utilise in their professional practice, and pass onto colleagues and midwifery clients. Respondents were recruited to the study by way of ‘snowballing.’ One hundred and ten emails were sent out inviting midwives to participate in the study. They were also asked to pass on the invitation email to as many colleagues as possible. 54 midwives completed and submitted the questionnaire.