Results of the Australian Midwifery Action Project Education Survey. Paper 2: Barriers to effective midwifery education as identified by midwifery course coordinators

Abstract

This paper is the second in a series of three, reportingon the findings of the Australian Midwifery Action Project (AMAP) Education Survey. It concentrates on the barriers to effective midwifery education as identified by the midwifery course coordinators from the 27 Australian universities providing a midwifery program for initial authorisation to practise as a midwife.

In line with the major research questions of the AMAP, the midwifery course coordinators were asked to identify what they saw as the barriers to providing quality midwifery education and strategies to overcome these barriers. Their main concerns centred on the difficulties in providing appropriate clinical practice placements, financial pressures for students and barriers to effective teaching and learning. Mostly the strategies were a reversal of the identified barriers. These findings highlight the need for major reform in the way midwifery education is organised and funded in Australia.