The impact of pre-registration education on the motivation and preparation of midwifery students to work in continuity of midwifery care: An integrative review

Abstract

Access to continuity of midwifery care (CoMC) models in Australia is increasing but the capacity of the emerging midwifery workforce to provide this care remains largely unknown. The aim of this integrative literature review is to discover how well pre-registration midwifery education prepares and motivates Australian midwifery students to work in CoMC models when they enter practice. Following title review of 432 papers, removal of duplicates and review against the inclusion and exclusion criteria, nine papers were included for review. Keywords Midwifery education Continuity of midwifery care Midwifery workforce Highlights• CoMC experiences enhance student learning and increase motivation to work in continuity models.• Challenges experienced by students may be reduced by midwifery education program redesign.• Increased access to CoMC for students and graduates may enhance workforce sustainability.

Learning to be a midwife: Midwifery students’ experiences of an extended placement within a midwifery group practice

“…Most students were provided with a positive learning environment which resulted in a rewarding and enriching learning experience. As confirmed by previous studies, continuity of midwifery placement within a continuity model allows for a holistic woman-centered approach to learning and provides unique and valuable facets of learning [37,51,56]. In addition, by placing students within a midwifery continuity model, they are exposed to the full scope of the role of the midwife and how midwives in that model support each other.…”

“…This deepening awareness is supported by Gray et al [47] who suggests that students in caseload placements develop deep insight into how continuity works and how decisions and actions are centred around the woman. A recent integrative review by Cramer and Hunter [37], confirmed a connecting association between midwives working to full scope of practice building relationships with women and their sense of confidence and empowerment. Students who participated in the extended 6-month placement aligned with this world view when they talked about 'feeling like a midwife'.…”

“…The second is the benefits of continuity of midwifery care to childbearing women [35]. The third is the benefits of providing continuity of care to midwives themselves [36][37][38]. A small number of maternity services in Australia have started to employ graduates/newly qualified midwives into MGP [34].…”

“…The provision of a six-month student placement with a midwife in the midwifery group practice was proposed to have a number of benefits. Along with the opportunity to achieve the required number of continuity of care experiences with a known midwifery mentor, reduce stress and improve job satisfaction, a literature review suggested that placing students in a continuity of midwifery model of care with a continuity of midwifery mentor may lead students to work in that model of care upon graduation [37]. Maternity unit management and midwifery academics were interested to discover if the placement was of benefit to the students as proposed.…”

Analyzing and strengthening the clinical support of undergraduate midwifery students and developing a mentorship training program at a higher education institution in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a mixed method and action research design.

“…Clinical support through mentorship in nursing gained momentum in the early 2000s when Andrew and Wallis (2001) fully unpacked the definitions, roles, preparation, and effectiveness of mentorship in nursing. Mentorship in midwifery allows midwifery students to practice the clinical skills necessary for the job and become well-orientated to the real-life experiences through the guidance of more experienced midwifery practitioners they work with during placement (Beukes and Nolte, 2013;Jamshidi et al, 2016;Bharj and Embo, 2018;Carter, Dietsch and Sidebotham, 2020). The purpose is to prepare students to achieve the required competencies during clinical placement and thus become safe and competent practitioners upon registration of the qualification (Hallas, Biesecker, and Newland, 2012;Lawson and Bunyan, 2013;Maxwell, Black, and Baillie, 2015).…”