EE

The ICM Standards for Midwifery Education (2021) are an essential pillar of ICM’s efforts to strengthen midwifery worldwide by promoting high quality education programs that prepare midwives who meet the ICM definition of a midwife. The ICM Standards for Midwifery Education are based on foundational ICM Core Documents and Position Statements (see Annex 1). Importantly, the Standards address inclusion of the Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice (2019) as the basis of the midwifery curriculum.

The purposes of the ICM Standards for Midwifery Education are to:

• set benchmarks for programs that prepare students for entry to practice as a midwife
• promote high-quality teaching and learning processes;
• ensure the ICM Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice (2019) are incorporated into the curriculum
• provide a framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating the quality of a midwifery education program
• assist programs to engage in continuous quality improvement as an ongoing process
• enable systematic reporting of quality indicators to the public, the midwifery profession, the health care system, and the educational institution
• contribute to systematic improvement of midwifery education programs across the world

Additionally, the ICM Standards for Midwifery Education may be used to:

• promote a common understanding and approach to midwifery education
• guide the development of new programs or the restructuring of existing programs where midwives are needed
• assist other midwifery accrediting agencies, government health/education departments and education institutions within countries/states to develop or revise their own standards
• meet the ICM Midwifery Education Accreditation Program (MEAP)