New Pre-registration Midwifery Education Standards, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 10 Mar 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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The NMC yesterday published its updated standards required for pre-registration programmes in midwifery; the updated standards will come into effect from 1 September 2009.

Standards for pre-registration midwifery education 2009 [PDF]

Standards for pre-registration midwifery education is a convenient and comprehensive booklet detailing all mandatory standards and guidance required for the education and training of student midwives. It is an essential reference for all those involved in the commissioning, designing and teaching of pre-registration midwifery programmes around the UK.

It covers the standards for:

- The lead midwife in education
- Admission to and continued participation in pre-registration midwifery programmes
- Structure and nature of pre-registration midwifery programmes
- Competencies and essential skills for students of midwifery

The publication replaces all previous NMC literature on the above, including the current key reference, Standards of proficiency for pre-registration midwifery education (2004).

It also incorporates previous NMC circulars related to the outcome of two NMC consultations: Fitness to practice at the point of registration and Pre-registration midwifery education. The Essential Skills Clusters for midwifery: communication, initial consultation between the woman and the midwife, normal labour, initiation and continuance of breastfeeding, and medicines management are also included.

The booklet makes reference to the international definition of a midwife and the requirements of the European Union Directive, Recognition of Professional Qualifications 2005/36/EC Article 40.

Commenting on the publication of the updated standards, Professor Jane Tunstill, Chair of the NMC's statutory Midwifery Committee, said:

"The updated standards were developed following five years of careful work in consulting and involving women and midwives. They will be vital to ensuring the quality of midwifery education in the UK".

Dr Sue Way, NMC midwifery adviser commented:

"This latest publication reflects the work of the NMC to review regularly the quality of its publications to ensure they are up to date, user-friendly and targeted to their audience in the clearest language".

Notes

1. Standards for pre-registration midwifery education is available online at http://www.nmc-uk.org from 1 March 2009. Hard copies can be ordered through the publications section of the website.

2. The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. To be eligible to work as a nurse or midwife in the UK, they must be registered with the NMC. There are currently more than 660,000 nurses and midwives on the register.

3. In order to become a registered midwife, new students must study at a minimum of degree level which adheres to the training and education standards set by the NMC. A list of Higher Education Institutions approved to run midwifery education programmes across the UK can be found on http://www.nmc-uk.org

4. Higher educational institutions confirm students have completed an approved programme of midwifery education that meets the NMC requirements and recommend that they are fit to be on the NMC register.

Nursing & Midwifery Council

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