Rapid Assessment of
Midwifery Education
Quality midwifery education gives individuals the competencies needed to make an immediate impact yet the content, quality, and duration of education programs vary greatly across contexts.
Due to the limited evidence on the effectiveness of midwifery education models in conflict-affected settings, the EQUAL research consortium partners aimed to gain deeper understanding and actionable insights into the quality of midwifery pre-service education in conflict-affected areas of Somalia and Nigeria (specifically in Yobe State).
This was done by conducting a rapid assessment to 1) assess the extent to which midwifery pre-service education programs meet national and global (International Confederation of Midwives, ICM) standards; and 2) to explore how conflict affects pre-service midwifery education in the study sites.
This assessment used the Midwifery Education Rapid Assessment Tool endorsed by ICM and UNFPA that includes a set of standards, verification criteria, and a scoring rubric to help identify potential “quick fixes” and bottlenecks that require greater investments across the tool's six domains of pre-service education (Figure above): infrastructure and management, teachers and preceptors, clinical practice sites, curriculum and students, and influencing factors.
To learn more about the assessments and the results from Somalia and Nigeria, download the briefs below.
Fullerton, J. T., Johnson, P., Lobe, E., Myint, K. H., Aung, N. N., Moe, T., & Linn, N. A. (2016). A Rapid Assessment Tool for affirming good practice in midwifery education programming. Midwifery, 34, 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2016.01.008