Culturally Sound Midwifery Care for Migrant Mothers: How Well the Midwifery Curriculum Prepares Graduates

Abstract

There are no publicly available data on how many migrant mothers in Slovenia are cared for during pre-, intra-and post-natal period. Nevertheless, with the refugees' situation during the years 2016-2018, Slovenia faced a challenge where not only quality but also culturally sensitive midwifery care was of crucial importance. Foreign midwifery curriculums emphasize cultural competencies of graduates, however; there has not been any study conducted in order to evaluate Slovene midwifery students' cultural awareness. Therefore, a study was performed among the final year midwifery students using a Cultural Awareness Scale (CAS). The findings reveal that the current curriculum lacks specific information on cultural competencies; nevertheless the students expressed high levels of cultural awareness. Midwifery teachers were described as positive role models and it could be estimated that also indirect teaching, using good examples, can be a way students successfully learn cultural awareness.