Academie Verloskunde Maastricht

An educational programme to support student midwives in becoming competent and confident practitioners of physiological childbirth

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The midwifery model of care is an effective model when compared with other models of care, demonstrating similar or improved outcomes achieved with fewer medical interventions when compared to traditional models of medical care.

Start date: 2015
End date: 2019

As Dutch midwifery transitions from home to hospital-based midwifery, it will be necessary for midwives to develop new skills sets to ensure that, regardless of setting, the woman and her baby receive evidence-based, women-centred care and care which promotes the best achievable – optimal – outcome. An interlinking group of five projects, utilizing differing research methodologies will be employed.

Aim

To investigate whether an education programme based on the Optimality Index strengthens students’ attitudes and self-efficacy for promoting physiological childbirth in different birth settings?

Relevance

This PhD project proposes to develop an educational programme that will support student midwives and the midwives that supervise them in clinical practice (in both primary and clinical settings) in the development of competences supporting and promoting physiological childbirth. Its’ outcomes include
- The creation of midwives who are competent and confident in utilizing strategies and interventions that support women in achieving physiological birth, irrespective of the birth setting
- Generating knowledge that will inform future educational strategies regarding physiological childbirth
- Contributing to the further underpinning and development of evidence-based midwifery education and local, national and global levels.