Background: Midwives as the spearhead of health services should have a good performance in the early detection of pregnant women. Midwife performance was hypothesized to be influenced by several factors, including knowledge, motivation and work infrastructure. This study aimed to analyze the association between motivation and performance in early detection of high-risk pregnancy among midwives at community health center Air Beliti, Musi Rawas, South Sumatera.

Subjects and Method: This was a cross-sectional study conducted at Air Beliti Community Health Center, Musi Rawas, South Sumatera. A sample of 30 midwives at this community health center was selected for this study. The independent variable was motivation. The dependent variable was performance in early detection of high-risk pregnancy. The data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by Chi-square.

Results: Performance in early detection of high-risk pregnancy was associated with motivation. Midwives with high motivation were 12 times more likely to have good performance in early detection of high-risk pregnancy (OR= 12.0; 95% CI= 0.06 to 0.13; p= 0.003).

Conclusion: There is a positive association between performance in early detection of high-risk pregnancy and motivation among midwives.

Keywords: motivation, performance, early detection, high-risk pregnancy, midwife