Education Hubs for Excellence in Midwifery

Trained midwives can avert maternal and newborn deaths. With the support of international organizations and national policy initiatives midwifery has become a rapidly growing field, in which HEIs can play a critical role. SafeMa project will develop a midwifery professional training course on ‘Advanced Midwifery Practice’, comprising of eight modules that can be taught as short courses, and facilitated internship. It will fully align with ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education and focus on specific learning objectives that respond to identified skills shortages. Its methodology will promote clinical and research skills and experiential, hands-on learning.The course will be at the core of the SafeMa Hubs: model teaching, research and pedagogic resource centres in midwifery, established in each partner university. Hubs will also support midwifery at the local and regional levels, with particular emphasis to remote rural areas, partnering with hospitals and health centres, for improving youth awareness, attitudes and behaviour about reproductive health and women rights. They will themselves be strengthened by the creation of partnerships with other national and international institutions and organisations. Hubs will support a Research Cluster aiming to produce interdisciplinary research of rigour and relevance both locally and globally in a diverse range of areas relevant to midwifery. The RC is expected to act as an incubator for larger research projects and funding. SafeMa will support strong synergies with UN, WHO, ICM, FIGO, IPA and other projects that work towards the empowerment of midwifery and the cooperation with local, regional and national authorities and health services, the national associations of midwives and other key stakeholders.