The purpose of this study was to gather expecting mothers’ preference of midwife gender. This was motivated by the fact that, catering for expecting mothers’ preferences in midwife deployment is a strategy to promote client centered service delivery in hospitals. It is also expected to reduce home deliveries by woman who fear exposing their bodies to males who are not their husbands. A combination of a descriptive survey and historical research design was applied in this study. Data was collected from a purposive sample of 100 expecting mothers through a self reporting questionnaire and focus group discussions. The study found that, male midwives were only allowed to train and practice as midwives when the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 was implemented. Otherwise midwifery was a female to female affair. The majority of expecting mothers prefer female midwifes. There was an association between midwife preference and location. The majority of mothers in rural areas prefer female midwives. Factors contributing to these preferences include, age (mature mothers prefer female midwives while young mothers (10 – 20) years do not mind. Culture and religious beliefs are the other factors that contribute to female midwife preference. This study recommends that: (1)Gweru provincial hospital school of midwifery should train more female midwives than males. The study suggests a ratio of 2:3 for male: female midwife trainees. This midwife gender imbalance is based on the finding that more mothers prefer female midwives than male midwives. (2) More female midwives should be deployed in the rural areas and growth points where they are mostly preferred.(3) Further studies at a larger scale are called for since this research's findings are just a tip of an iceberg in the midlands province of Zimbabwe.
Midwife, Gender preferences, Expecting mothers
