Accreditation Programme for Midwifery Education

Testing the assessment criteria for the in-country visit during the pilot missio
Testing the assessment criteria for the in-country visit during the pilot mission at the Ecole de Médecine et de Santé Publique (EMSP), Comoros in October 2017. (Photo: Leah F. Bohle/Swiss TPH)

The Midwifery Education Accreditation Programme (MEAP) that Swiss TPH developed for the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) has now been finalized and will be officially handed over to ICM mid-March 2018. MEAP will offer accreditation approval based on an independent assessment of an institute’s midwifery educational programme, determining the extent to which it meets ICM global standards.

MEAP will not only serve as a quality label but has the potential to enable consistency of midwifery education processes and graduate outcomes globally. In addition it bears the opportunity to identify best practices and gaps, allowing donors and implementers to provide targeted, effective and sustainable support for high-quality midwifery education and most importantly to build capacity for midwifery education of highest quality.

In 2017, ICM has mandated Swiss TPH to develop the MEAP. An interdisciplinary team of Swiss TPH experts has worked together with ICM on the development of this global accreditation programme with the aim to strengthen existing pre-service midwifery educational programmes globally. Assessment criteria were developed based on ICM guidelines and international key documents and feedback received by a panel of international midwifery education and regulation experts through two consultative forums. Accreditation experts were trained and the accreditation process was tested in two countries (Trinidad and Tobago and the Comoros) and refined thereafter. The accreditation process consists of several phases and is hosted on an online platform.