Prepared for the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) of Afghanistan as the national community midwife curriculum for use by all organizations implementing a Community Midwife Education Program.
The MoPH of Afghanistan and the Institute of Health Sciences duly acknowledges the financial support of USAID/HSSP for revising and publishing the Community Midwifery Program Curriculum and Learning Resource Package. Senior trainers, midwives, and medical doctors from the IHS, existing Community Midwifery Education programs, donors, agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) contributed to the review of these documents.
This publication was made possible through support provided by the Office of Health and Nutrition, Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms of Contract No. 306-A-00-06-00523 (HSSP). The opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3
FOREWORD 4
BACKGROUND 6
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 9
ACRONYMS 11
INTRODUCTION 14
Program Rationale 14
Program Philosophy 19
Program Aim 20
Ongoing Needs 21
PROGRAM CONSIDERATIONS 22
The Learning Process 22
The Learning Environment 23
Preparation of Teachers 23
Preparation of Classroom Facilities 25
Selection of Clinical Sites 25
Availability of Learning Resources 26
Preparation of a Simulated Practice Environment – “Skills Lab” 26
Scheduling Considerations 28
Student Teacher/Preceptor Ratio 28
Monitoring Program Implementation 29
PROGRAM CONTENT AND STRUCTURE 30
Progression of the Program 30
Learning Modules 30
Competency in Postpartum 32
Care of Women 32
Program Calendar 33
Phase 1: Fundamentals of Midwifery Care in Normal Pregnancy and Childbirth. (32 weeks) 33
Key References 35
MODULE OUTLINES 37
Phase 1: Introductory Topics and Normal Pregnancy and Childbirth Care (32 weeks) 37
Phase 2: Complications of Pregnancy and Childbirth (32 weeks) 41
Phase 3: Family Planning and Other RH Topics (32 weeks) 43
LEARNING APPROACH 47
Mastery Learning 47
Behavior Modeling 49
Competency-Based Training 50
Humanistic Training Techniques 51
Assessing Competence 52
LEARNING METHODS 53
Illustrated Lectures/ Interactive Presentations 53
Case Studies 53
Role Plays 54
Skills Practice Sessions 54
Clinical Simulations 55
ASSESSMENT METHODS 56
Case Studies 56
Role Plays 56
Clinical Simulations 56
Written Tests 56
Skill Assessments with Models and Patients/Clients 57
Guidelines for Final Assessment of Competency 59
ANNEX 1: JOB DESCRIPTION 61
ANNEX 2: NATIONAL POLICY ON MIDWIFERY EDUCATION AND ACCREDITATION 68
APPENDIX 1: EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS FOR MIDWIFERY EDUCATION 77
ANNEX 3: ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES FOR MIDWIVES/ COMMUNITY MIDWIVES IN AFGHANISTAN 79
1. Competency in social, epidemiologic and cultural context of maternal and newborn health 81
2. Competency in pre-pregnancy care and family planning 83
3. Competency in care and counseling during pregnancy 85
4. Competency in care during labour and birth 88
5. Competency of care for women in postpartum period 92
6. Competency: care of the newborn and young children 94
7. Competency in promoting health in the community 96
ANNEX 4: PROGRAM CALENDAR 98
Women’s and children’s health is one of the top priorities of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) in Afghanistan. The MoPH is committed to reducing the high levels of maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity by ensuring women have improved access to all aspects of maternal and newborn care provided by competent and skilled staff. Strengthening the pre-service education programs required to develop the knowledge, skills and abilities of all those who provide these health services is particularly important for making pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care safer.