Greenslade-Yeats, JamesMharapara, Tagonei2025-04-092025-04-092025-01-30The Conversation. January 30, 2025. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/how-do-workers-cope-in-no-win-situations-midwives-found-out-the-hard-way-during-the-pandemic-247679http://hdl.handle.net/10292/19025During the pandemic, midwives faced what researchers call a “pragmatic paradox” – a situation where contradictory demands are imposed on individuals who can neither refuse nor fulfil the demands. Midwives needed to care for women and babies despite the risk of infecting them with the virus. Their experiences shed important light on how we can think about no-win situations in the workplace. In our recently published research, we surveyed 215 New Zealand midwives about their experiences of working through COVID lockdowns and how they coped with what felt at times like a no-win situation.We believe in the free flow of information. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons licence.Other Form of Assessable OutputOpenAccess