Perinatal mental health education for midwives in Scotland

Abstract

The importance of recognizing factors contributing to the poor mental health of women in the perinatal period has been highlighted both nationally and internationally. As such there is a need for enhanced midwifery services and education provision in perinatal mental health, which has been advocated by practitioners, educationalists, service providers and government documents. Following the publication of the Scottish Perinatal Mental Health Curricular Framework, a national education package was developed and delivered to a cohort of multi-professionals which included midwives. This innovative course was developed by a multidisciplinary team producing educational material that ensured cultural and discipline specific relevance in relation to the learning outcomes of the curricular framework. The team identified key clinicians and educationalists to contribute to each learning outcome. A blended learning approach using workshops and e-learning and the use of inter-professional mentoring was implemented. The development, implementation, evaluation and future plans are presented here.