Structure and Purpose of Academic Reports in Midwifery
With Emma and Ethan, Academic Skills Specialist
Key Takeaways
- Academic reports develop your ability to present evidence clearly, argue a position logically, and demonstrate critical thinking — all skills you'll use every day as a midwife reviewing research or writing patient records.
- Reports use a formal, labelled structure — introduction, methodology, findings, discussion, conclusion — and often include data.
- Essays flow as continuous argument.
- You start with an abstract — a short summary of the whole report.
- Then an introduction setting out the purpose and context.
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Full Transcript
Emma: Welcome to the episode on Structure and Purpose of Academic Reports in Midwifery. I'm Emma, and with me is Ethan, our Academic Skills Specialist. Ethan, why do aspiring midwives need to write academic reports?
Ethan: Academic reports develop your ability to present evidence clearly, argue a position logically, and demonstrate critical thinking — all skills you'll use every day as a midwife reviewing research or writing patient records.
Emma: What's the core difference between a report and an essay?
Ethan: Reports use a formal, labelled structure — introduction, methodology, findings, discussion, conclusion — and often include data. Essays flow as continuous argument. Reports are modular and easy to navigate; they're designed for professional audiences.
Emma: Walk us through the key sections of a typical academic report.
How does structure and purpose of academic reports in midwifery work in a healthcare context?
Ethan: You start with an abstract — a short summary of the whole report. Then an introduction setting out the purpose and context. The methodology explains how you gathered information. Findings present what you discovered, and the discussion interprets it.
Emma: What goes in the conclusion and why does it matter?
Ethan: The conclusion synthesises your findings and links back to the report's purpose. It should answer the question you set out to explore. Do not introduce new ideas here — it's about drawing threads together cleanly.
Emma: In a midwifery context, what might an academic report actually be investigating?
Ethan: Common topics include skin-to-skin contact rates and their impact on breastfeeding, or comparing pain management options in labour. The report format lets you present data, analyse it, and make evidence-based recommendations.
How does structure and purpose of academic reports in midwifery work in a healthcare context?
Emma: What are the most common structural errors students make?
Ethan: Blurring sections — putting analysis in the findings section, or putting new information in the conclusion. Each section has a job; keeping them clean shows academic discipline.
Emma: Any final tips for getting the structure right?
Ethan: Read the marking criteria before you write a single word. Then sketch your headings and bullet the key points under each before writing in full. Structure first, prose second.