Today, October 7, 2013 is a momentous day in the lives of Rwandan midwives and midwifery faculty. Orientation is being held for 38 midwives who are embarking on the first bachelor’s program in midwifery. All of these students currently hold 3-year diplomas from the Schools of Nursing and Midwifery. Many of them are actually faculty members of those schools. In Rwanda, there are 250 professional midwives for a population of 11 million people. There are only 3 masters prepared midwives in-country, and they are all serving in senior administrative positions within referral hospitals.
The program is a 2-year, part time program, allowing these midwives to continue teaching at their respective schools or practicing in hospitals and health centers. The curriculum has been developed over the past year in a collaborative effort between Rwandan midwifery and nursing educators and the US institution faculty who are in country as part of the Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program. These US midwives come from the University of Illinois at Chicago, New York University, and the University of Maryland. Eight of them are teaching in this program and precepting groups of 4-5 students in clinical placements. This semester, they will all be at health centers.
Five Rwandan midwives are currently studying for master’s degrees outside the country. These midwives will return and take over the teaching and precepting responsibilities from the US faculty.
I heard beautiful testimonies today to the belief in the right of a woman to control her own birthing process, to the proper mix of knowledge, skill, respect, and kindness as tools of the successful midwife, and to the rights of mothers and babies to life and health.
This program will be demanding and challenging, but it is giant step towards improving the lives of women and babies in Rwanda and creating a cadre of highly competent and caring professional midwives. Stay tuned for updates as these midwifery students travel the unpaved path.
Anne Sliney RN ACRN
Chief Nursing Officer
Clinton Health Access Initiative