Global workshops in midwifery competency-based educational methodologies: lessons learned

Abstract

The Lancet Series on Midwifery and The State of the World's Midwifery 2014 called on countries to expand the midwifery workforce as a key strategy to improve the health of women and newborns and lower maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. Well-prepared midwife teachers and preceptors are required to prepare midwives to provide competent, high quality care for women and childbearing families. This article describes the design of competency-based education (CBE) capacity development workshops building on the International Confederation of Midwives' (ICM) essential competencies and education standards, led by eight English-, Spanish-, and French-speaking CBE Master Educators (MEs). Common content and processes used in three English, one Spanish, and one French workshop are briefly described, noting the influence of participants' backgrounds, location, and teacher preferences in modifications to common content. As of December 2016, 30 CBE Master Teachers and 22 CBE Teachers have attended a CBE capacity development workshop and, in turn, have provided CBE continuing education (CE) sessions for more than 300 midwife teachers and preceptors in over 20 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Anglophone and Francophone Africa. Lessons learned are shared along with suggestions for next steps in assessment and evaluation of the use of CBE in midwifery education programs.