MIDWIFERY EDUCATION FOR SAFE MOTHERHOOD

Objective: to determine the useability (relevance, clarity and quality of content), applicability (ease of use) and accessibility (structure and form) of a series of new safe motherhood midwifery education modu les. Design: questionnaire survey and focus group discussions, precede d by a two week clinical skills course and an eight day orientation to using the modules. Setting: nursing and midwifery education instituti ons, regional training centres, acute-care hospital facilities and com munity settings in Ethiopia, Fiji, Lesotho, Mozambique and Nepal. Part icipants: thirty-six teachers, 82 midwives, nurse-midwives and auxilia ry nurse-midwives from practice settings, and 60 post basic midwifery students. Key findings: overall it was found that the introductory inf ormation and the technical content of the modules were easy to underst and and use as were the instructions for both teachers and students. T he presentation of the material was orderly and easy to follow; the la nguage was comprehensible; and the illustrations were appropriate, cle ar and facilitated teaching. The teachers found that they were able to use most of the teaching/learning methods, teach most of the skills i n the modules, and use the guidelines for assessing competence. The ma in difficulties encountered included adherence to the recommended time frame for some of the classroom sessions; the limited availability of clinical cases for teaching the specific skills in the modules and ti me limitations in the clinical area for practising the skills; and the provision of transport for community visits, data to complete communi ty profiles, and time to complete other planned community activities. The students identified the need for a set of learning materials which they could take with them for future reference, and both teachers and students expressed concern about resources to support, and legislatio n to cover, the application of the skills taught/learned. Key conclusi ons: the modules have the potential to strengthen and support the educ ation of midwives in developing countries, enabling them to make mothe rhood safer and contribute to a reduction in maternal mortality by pro viding better midwifery care.