On average, those who left the profession did so after an average of 3.2 years, which is slightly shorter than the 3.5 years it takes to complete midwife training.
Respondents in the study cited staffing issues, weekend work, high emotional demands and a hectic working environment as reasons for leaving.
"We can't change the fact that children are born at all hours of the day," Lis Munk, chair of the Danish Midwives Association, told the Ritzau newswire in a written comment. "But we can change the framework under which midwives work."
The study also indicated that the Covid-19 pandemic had contributed towards increased work pressure, and that midwives who trained in the capital region had a greater chance of leaving the job than elsewhere in Denmark.
The Danish Midwives Association carried out the same study in 2021, with that study showing that around one in three midwives had left the profession after around five or six years.
After that study was released, a political agreement was made to employ more staff on maternity wards, as well as raising midwife salaries.
According to Munk, the new figures show that midwives' working conditions are still not good enough.
"We already know some possible solutions ‒ better framework for shift work and smaller, more easily managed maternity wards. It's time to reach for the low-hanging fruit," she said.
Ceclile Søby Thorsen, chair of the Jordemoderstuderendes Landssammenslutning, the union of midwifery students, told the Politiken newspaper that she does not believe newly-educated midwives lack motivation.
"Of course we know before applying for this course that we would be working changing shifts," she said. "But it's something else to actually experience it. It's difficult to imagine in advance what it is like. I'm sure no midwife goes through training with the aim of leaving maternity wards after a few years," she told the newspaper.
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