Strengthening midwifery education
Building competence and confidence in midwifery education
Every midwifery student needs to graduate with competence and confidence to provide quality maternal and neonatal care.
Simulation-based education is key to make this happen.
THE CHALLENGE
The world needs one million more midwives
Every year, 140 million babies are born. To ensure all births are safe, the world needs one million more midwives.1
The International Confederation of Midwives updated its Essential competencies in midwifery practice and recently published its Global Standards for Midwife faculty development.2. The ICM standards promote high-quality midwifery education, setting benchmarks, ensuring essential competencies, and providing a framework for quality midwifery care.
The opportunity
Enhancing education coverage and quality
The 2023 State of the World's Midwifery Report states that fully resourcing midwife-led care by 2035 could prevent 67% of maternal deaths, 64% of newborn deaths, and 65% of stillbirths. Universal midwife coverage could save 4.3 million lives annually by 2035.
Together with partners, we work towards this future by expanding midwifery education capacity and improving quality in midwifery education.
Making Changes Globally
For large-scale and sustainable change, it is necessary to work with dedicated partners and government agencies. We’re working with partners worldwide to strengthen the quality of midwifery education.
As a member of the Alliance to Improve Midwifery Education (AIME), we work together with the WHO, ICM, UNFPA, UNICEF, and other partners to raise the quality of midwifery education by developing new training resources, guidelines, evidence, and advocacy to address gaps in midwifery education.
Midwifery education in India
In India, we’re working with Jhpiego, the Fernandez Foundation, Aastrika Foundation, and others to support the government of India in training and educating India’s first cadre of 86,000 midwives.
The Government of India is establishing 14 National Midwifery Training Institutes linked to 10 State Midwifery Training Institutes. With our partners, we want to develop midwifery faculty, and have skills practice and simulation institutionalized at these training centers.
Advancing midwifery education in Nepal
Nepal introduced professional midwifery education in 2016. Despite strong policy backing from the government and support from global partners, important systemic gaps remained in the foundations of midwifery training. At the same time, Nepal set an ambitious goal: every birth attended by a skilled health professional and every health facility staffed with a midwife - requiring 10,500 midwives by 2030. To reach this target, national guiding documents such as the Midwifery Roadmap and strategy were developed and put into action across existing and newly established midwifery institutions.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population, GIZ, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, and national professional associations, we have been working to help close these gaps.
The results are already visible. More than 130 new midwives have graduated, and over 400 students have received midwifery training. What began as a midwifery-focused initiative has since expanded to nursing and medical programs - creating new opportunities for interprofessional teamwork and, most importantly, contributing to stories of lives saved.
Introducing Team-Training for Nurses in Zanzibar
At the SUZA School of Nursing in Zanzibar, faculty and students have been supported with a new simulation center which has been designed and filled based off the competency needs in their nurse and midwifery curricula.
In collaboration with Wajamama and Ariadne Labs, we’ve been shifting their learning methods away from lectures to hands-on, team-based learning, and building up simulation competency for long-term change.
Improving midwifery education in Rwanda with simulation-based learning
In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, UNFPA, SAFER, and the University of Rwanda, the SimBegin training program has been rolled out to more than 100 midwifery faculty across 13 colleges nationwide. The program has strengthened faculty capacity in applying diverse teaching and learning pedagogies within the midwifery curriculum - helping ensure students gain the practical skills and confidence they need to provide quality care.
Preparing more midwives in Nigeria
Nigeria faces a critical shortage of well-trained midwives, compounded by disparities in educational quality and limited hands-on learning opportunities. The government is committed to strengthening midwifery education by aligning curricula with global standards, expanding practical training, and investing in educational resources to ensure midwives are prepared to provide high-quality maternal and neonatal care.
In support of these efforts, and under the leadership of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, a program funded by the Gates Foundation and implemented in partnership with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Capacity Connect Limited, PROMPT, Telleosis Nigeria Limited, and Laerdal Global Health3 is being rolled out across 20 midwifery schools in 10 states. This initiative aims to enhance faculty capacity and student competencies, ultimately improving care for mothers and newborns nationwide.
