Table 4 Midwives’ perceived barriers in providing effective physical activity advice and guidance

“… it’s just not having that information and, you know, potentially having to ask her to go somewhere else to get it. You know, she looks upon you as the fount of all knowledge and actually you, but that’s the thing about midwifery as well though; we don’t, we don’t, umm, we don’t claim to know everything in which case then we refer to somebody else. But actually with regard to your, you know, the exercise, it would be handy to have something in place to say well it is ok to do Zumba, it is ok to do your horse riding and we quite often have somebody who says they horse ride.” [Lucy]

Theme 1:

Lack of training, knowledge and confidence.

“Time, time is a huge one. Umm, my case load is too big for a part-timer, but because of staffing levels, it’s just the way it rolls at the moment. Umm, I feel my biggest challenge at the moment is maintaining my safety. Umm, I think there’s things that I forget now, because I’ve got too much other stuff going on.” [Louise]

Theme 2:

Time constraints and ensuing compromises.

“… I can’t think of any Trust or NHS leaflets specifically about exercise where there is on diet, there is on drinking, there’s on smoking, but I can’t think, except the postnatal exercises they go home with that no one ever reads.” [Sue]

Theme 3:

Unawareness of suitable resources and opportunities.

“I do agree that we’re not equipped enough to formally give information about exercise, but a lot of it is common sense.” [Sue]

“I do feel there is limited information, you know, and I don’t have lots of knowledge about what advice to give women, I just draw on, like my personal experience and sort of what I’ve picked up going along, you know.” [Anne]

Theme 4:

Reliance on common sense and own experience as opposed to evidence-based practice

“Uh, no, I think probably most health professionals know that it’s, you know, it’s the right thing to do, umm, but I think the fear, it’s the fear attached to it, of not making sure that you’re giving the right information and umm, you know, you know, not sort of upsetting the women or you know offending the women or, you know.” [Amy]

Theme 5:

Perceptions of vulnerability relating to inherent fears and exposure to risk.