Reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in East, Central and Southern Africa with midwifery educator training

Abstract

The East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) region faces a critical shortage of skilled birth attendants despite high levels of maternal and neonatal mortality. This situation could be improved by training more midwives, but in order to achieve this there is a need for more trainers. However, most countries in the region have no midwifery educators’ programmes to produce people to train the required midwives. To address this gap, the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Nursing (ECSACON), in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, is implementing a 5-year project aimed at increasing the number of midwifery educators and midwives to contribute to the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality in the ECSA region. A midwifery master’s prototype curriculum, compliant with regional and international standards for midwifery educators, was developed by regional and international stakeholders which higher education institutions in the region are encouraged to adapt according to country needs. The paper describes promising progress and achievements in the ongoing implementation of this project. Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN) in Malawi and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) in the UK both adapted the midwifery prototype curriculum and started the programme in 2008 as full time and distance learning, respectively. The University of Makerere in Uganda commenced the programme in August 2011; and the following universities are planning to commence the programme in late 2013: Muhimbili and Tumaini in Tanzania, Zambia, Swaziland, and the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe. Uganda Christian University in Mukono intends to start the programme in 2014.