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Midwifery practice development tool

A very useful new tool has been developed in Australia to assist midwives assess their capabilities and preparedness for practising autonomously in either a Birth Centre setting, a caseload practise or independently. Called the Practice Development Resource, it has just been released by the Australian College of Midwives, following extensive consultation and testing with midwives in a number of setting across the country.

It is an A4 sized workbook that sets out the list of midwifery skills, knowledge and experience considered essential for midwives working on their own. It is divided into several sections: General Skills, Skills for Antenatal Care, Skills for intra partum care and Skills for postnatal care. Following reflection and self assessment, the midwife rates herself as confident or needing more work and there is space to record the strategy she will use to develop her practise to feel confident, where this is lacking.

It is intended for personal use, and will no doubt be used by midwives who are working towards being credentialled (see my Diary entry for May 11 for details of this process). It is a simple, easy to use, practical guide that would be helpful midwives working anywhere in the world. The skills required by midwives are the same the world over, especially in those countries that embrace the ICM’s International Definition of a Midwife. I can see a useful role for this tool in the UK, for example, where many midwives would like to work in a midwifery led unit and need a way of assessing their readiness for undertaking this move.

We’ve included it in our product range because we want to give it wider exposure than just the Australian scene. I hope midwives elsewhere will use it too.

Posted by andrea at June 04, 2006 09:00 AM