Educational Challenges of the "Counseling in Midwifery" Major in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: The most important element of education is the curriculum, which should fit the goals and tasks intended for each discipline. Counseling in midwifery has been established as an academic discipline in Iran since 2014 and, like other new disciplines, needs to be revised after five years. This study aimed to explain the challenges of theoretical and clinical courses offered in this field. Methods: This study was conducted using a qualitative conventional content analysis of the data collected through interviews with professors, graduates, and master’s students of counseling in midwifery. The participants were 16 students of the master’s program in counseling in midwifery, 4 graduates of counseling in midwifery, and 7 professors in this field. In this study, the data were collected through focused group discussions and individual and face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using conventional content analysis. Results: The challenges revealed through the interviews with the counseling in midwifery students, graduates, and professors were "the need to empower professors," "problems in providing an arena for clinical education," "intermingling of counseling with sociocultural constructs," "the need to update the curriculum," "the unclear role of counseling in midwifery services in the health system," and "standardization and expansion of the field." Conclusion: This study showed that there are weaknesses in counseling education in midwifery that need to be addressed and corrected. It seems that the current curriculum cannot meet the educational and clinical needs of the students. Thus, the curriculum needs to be updated. Besides, some awareness-raising strategies should be adopted to make students and the public familiar with counseling in midwifery.