Strong Pre-service Education

Goal 1

Strengthen pre-service teaching and learning in educational institutions to enable integration  of HMS and HBS into existing curricula

>9,500

Training episodes for students in Ethiopia
Approximately 75% of all training episodes

>4,000

Training episodes for students in Rwanda
Approximately 35% of all training episodes

>1,000

Training episodes for students in Tanzania
Approximately 25% of all training episodes

“For those students, it was the first time they saw the real maternity cases. They had just a little knowledge about maternal and newborn health, and only the theory. After the training they were very excited, they had seen how to do it and they had practised. In the clinical practice they were very confident.”

Education Institution Clinical Facilitator

Outcomes and impact

Midwifery educators were supported by the 50,000 Happy Birthdays project to integrate the interactive teaching methods used during the HMS and HBS educational programmes into existing pre-service education curricula.

Midwifery Educators expressed that: 

  • Effective collaboration between Midwives’ Associations and Midwifery/Nursing educators enabled additional educational institutions to be added to the training plan during the project.
  • Consultative regional workshops and ongoing two-way feedback between Midwives’ Associations and educational institutions helped to ensure consistency and quality of teaching.
  • Sustainability of the approach will continue after the end of the project through the presence of low-dose, high-frequency practice spaces in teaching hospitals for students and clinicians to practice life-saving skills together.
  • Addition of training resources to skills practice laboratories in educational institutions encouraged students to gain confidence prior to clinical practice in teaching hospitals.
  • Midwifery educators expressed that it was challenging to adopt new methods of teaching during the established academic calendar and would appreciate the opportunity to review curricula and adapt teaching methods before the students start class.