The Bachelor of Midwifery degree programme
offered at Otago Polytechnic is a four year degree compressed into three years
made possible by lengthening the academic year to 45 weeks. The programme has
been jointly developed with CPIT and is delivered in a blended mode. This
allows students from a wide geographical area to access the course. The
students, by location are placed in a satellite group where they meet with
their ‘Student Practice Facilitator’ weekly for face to face sessions. They
engage with online course material at home, gain practical experience in maternity
facilities and with midwives in their local area and travel to either Dunedin
(SI students) or Wellington (NI students) for block courses twice a year.
On successful completion of their Bachelor of
Midwifery degree and meeting the Midwifery Council of New Zealand’s
requirements, students can sit the national exam which on passing will give
them the opportunity to register as a midwife and gain an Annual Practicing
Certificate.
Midwives in New Zealand are the primary providers
of the maternity service, with over 80% of women registering with a midwife as
their Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) and a midwife being present at every birth.
Each midwife provides this care on her own responsibility and is required to
uphold high professional standards.
Given the responsibilities of the profession a
robust and rigorous education system is needed to prepare women to become
midwives. While the motivations to study midwifery are varied, a common theme
is the description of being ‘drawn’ to it by their life’s experiences, viewing
child bearing as a pivotal event that they feel ‘passionate’ about.
Learner Context.
The age range of students entering the
midwifery degree this year was 17-57 from diverse socio economic and educational
backgrounds. Academic requirements to enter the degree are 42 NCEA credits at
level 3 (including biology and or chemistry and an english rich subject). Many
potential applicants do not meet this requirement, so there is an alternative
route of completing a bridging programme to gain a Certificate in Health. It is
during this programme that students can take an Introduction to Midwifery
paper, the course I would like to re-design.
Given the wide and diverse background of the
students the course must be able to provide varied options for learning to meet
differing learning styles, behaviourist, cognitive and constructionist. For
some learning at a tertiary level will be completely new for others it may be
some time since they have engaged in formal education, some may be fresh from
school. Some may come with insecurities around their own ability or be
intimidated at the prospect of considering a degree programme. Some may be so
sure of their conviction to be a midwife it could be blinding their ability to
see the realities of the profession or programme.
The learners may study the course by distance
and thus delivery will be blended. Blended learning may be new to some
learners. They will need access to a computer and broadband, plus will need to
speak English to an appropriate level to complete the course.
Institutional Values and Professional
Expectations.
To summarise some of the values held in Otago
Polytechnic’s strategic vision for their learners is that through their
education are work ready, capable practitioners who have come from all
backgrounds and been exposed to experiential learning at all levels to enable
them to partner with their communities in a socially responsible and
sustainable manner (Otago Polytechnic, 2011).
These values sit nicely alongside the
midwifery profession’s framework, which is described in the Midwife Handbook
for Practice and involves such words as dynamic, holistic, collaborative,
flexible, creative, empowering and supportive (NZCOM, 2008).
To reach such lofty goals and given the
requirement of the Midwifery Council that midwifery students complete their
degree in under five years, students must be able to accurately gauge their
suitability to the profession as well as their ability to complete the course.
Given that midwifery in nature is dynamic and
diverse it is fitting that students of midwifery also come from a range of
backgrounds. Such diversity is seen to positively enhance the profession. To
encourage diversity into midwifery education it is vital that an alternative
route into the programme is offered, hence the development of a dynamic
Introduction to Midwifery course.
The midwifery workforce has an obligation to
provide an equitable service to all women in New Zealand, irrespective of
location and socio economic status. Historically it has sometimes been
difficult to attract midwives into some, particularly rural, areas. Offering
midwifery education in a blended format goes some way to addressing this
problem with the premise that if women can train to be midwives in the area
which they already live then they are more likely to stay in that area to
provide a midwifery service and thus address shortfalls in recruitment and
retention. As this is currently supported in the redesign of the Bachelor of
Midwifery programme to a blended model it is equally important that any
Introduction to Midwifery be accessible to women irrespective of their location
and would be suited to being delivered in a similar style to the degree to
expose students to this style of learning.
References.
New Zealand
College of Midwives (Inc). (2008). Midwives handbook for practice. Christchurch,
New Zealand.
Otago
Polytechnic. (2011). Strategic Directions 2011-13. Retrieved from
http://moodle.op.ac.nz/file.php/66/OP-Strategic_Directions_2011_-_13_final.pdf
Vision
