Student midwives' views of ‘learning to be a midwife’ in Ireland

Abstract

Objective: to explore the opinions, feelings and views of student midwives of their education as they progressed through their two-year programme in Ireland, with the intention of interpreting and understanding the working and learning world of the participants so that future students might be assisted to improve their educational experiences.Design: quantitative and qualitative methods. A phenomenological approach was used to guide the qualitative section of the study.Setting: all seven midwifery schools in Southern Ireland.Participants: all students in the first intake of 1995 in every midwifery school in Ireland (n=125).Data collection: individual and group interviews, diary-keeping and questionnaires.Key conclusions: the findings presented in this paper illustrate the students' views of their education. Students perceived themselves as part of the workforce and believed that their educational needs were denied. They were given little clinical teaching and guidance and were not assisted to learn the skills of decision-making or judgement. Much of their learning took place by trial and error. The 13 weeks allocated for theoretical input in the midwifery education programme in Southern Ireland is far too short and many students thought that time was wasted. Relationships with the teaching staff were good, although some authoritarian attitudes were evident and teaching did not appear to be student-focused.Implications for practice: theoretical teaching needs to be broadened and thought given to the integration of theory and practice. Clinical teaching is a necessity throughout the two-year programme and opportunities to teach while giving care should be identified and utilised. The use of prepared mentors, sufficient support staff and longer allocations to each area are recommended.