Levels of empathy in undergraduate midwifery students: An Australian cross-sectional study Lisa McKenna a, * , Malcolm Boyle b , Ted Brown c , Brett Williams b , Andrew Molloy c , Belinda Lewis d , Liz Molloy d a School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, Australia b Department of Community Emergency Health and Paramedic Practice, Monash University, Australia c Department of Occupational Therapy, Monash University, Australia d School of Primary Health Care, Monash University, Australia Received 24 December 2010; received in revised form 15 February 2011; accepted 16 February 2011 Introduction Being supportive, compassionate, and caring are fundamen- tally important roles of an effective midwife. 1,2 At a time Women and Birth (2011) 24, 80—84 KEYWORDS Empathy; Midwifery; Student; Education; Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Health Professional (JSPE-HP) version; Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS) Abstract Objective: This exploratory study investigated empathy and attitudes towards specific medical conditions, two important aspects of the midwife—woman relationship, amongst undergraduate midwifery students at one university. Method: Fifty-two Bachelor of Midwifery students across three years of the course completed questionnaires, the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Health Professional (JSPE-HP) version and the Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS). Both the JSPE-HP and the MCRS are standardised, self-report questionnaires with established reliability and validity. Findings: An overall respectable level of empathy was measured, which was shown to increase consistently and substantially with each year level of the student undergraduate program. Attitudes to selected diagnoses were very good with the exception being substance abuse, which received a significantly lower mean. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the Bachelor of Midwifery course, or studying midwifery, has a positive effect on students’ empathy. Low results in participants’ attitudes towards patients presenting with substance abuse raises concern that students may harbour prejudice that could impinge upon their professional practice and the way in which they care for these mothers. Hence, this aspect in particular may need further development within midwifery curriculum development. Further research around other conditions may extend on our under- standings of empathy and attitudes in midwifery students and practitioners. Crown Copyright # 2011 Published by Elsevier Australia (a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd) on behalf of Australian College of Midwives. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 3 9905 3492; fax: +61 3 9905 4837. E-mail address: Lisa.McKenna@monash.edu (L. McKenna). available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wombi 1871-5192/$ — see front matter. Crown Copyright # 2011 Published by Elsevier Australia (a division of Reed International Books Australia Pty Ltd) on behalf of Australian College of Midwives. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2011.02.003