The midwifery curriculum—Preparing beginning or advanced practitioners?

Abstract

Midwifery education in Australia has undergone rapid change in the last decade. It has been transferred from a traditional hospital based program developed to suit the service needs of an organisation, to a tertiary course of studies. This move has not been completed in all States/Territories and some still have hospital based courses. A diverse range of University awards for midwifery education have been developed. The curriculum, in the majority of these courses, has been developed by the academic staff based on their expertise and experience in the field of midwifery. This paper will give a brief overview of midwifery education in Australia and report the findings of a small study to define beginning and advanced midwifery practice as a curriculum development exercise and identify that beginning and advanced midwifery practice are different. It will also demonstrate the need for Universities to provide midwifery programs that are flexible, creative and appropriate for the learner.