Understanding the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours of midwives toward LGBTQ+ birthing people within the maternity care context: A Scoping Review Protocol

This scoping review aims to understand the extent and type of evidence of the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours (KSAB) of midwives (including students) in caring for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) birthing people within maternity care (as defined as antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care). LGBTQ+ birthing people frequently experience maternity shaped by heteronormative and cisgender frameworks, contributing to vulnerability, isolation, and an increased risk of birth trauma, particularly for trans and non-binary individuals. The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) offer a philosophy and models of care that identify person centred and human rights-based care as core to midwives’ skills and profession. This scoping review will explore the evidence of midwives’ (registered or student) (participants) knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviours/beliefs (KSAB) related to caring for LGBTQ+ birthing people (concept) in maternity care (context) using the PCC framework. The review will include all study designs and relevant grey literature, excluding opinion pieces, editorials, commentaries, and conference abstracts. No restrictions will be placed on publication date, however, only studies published in English will be included. Searches will be conducted across seven databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, APA PsycINFO, Maternity and Infant Care, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL, alongside Google, Google Scholar, and citation searching. All records will be managed in COVIDENCE, with title, abstract, and full-text screening undertaken independently by two reviewers. Findings will be synthesised using narrative description and visual summaries.