ICM Global Standards: essential to a universally agreed basic standard of midwifery education
Alliance partner the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) brought together key actors in the field of midwifery education, regulation and association from 19-20 January in The Hague, Netherlands. The objectives were to sensitise partners on the recently completed midwifery global standards on education, regulation and essential competencies, and to discuss strategies for dissemination and implementation at country level.
Launched in Durban in June 2011, the ICM standards include:
- the Global standards for midwifery education (2010);
- the Global Standards for BASIC Midwifery Education (2010);
- The Global Standards for Midwifery Regulation (2011); and the
- Essential Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice (2011).
The ICM standards are essential pillars of ICM’s efforts to strengthen midwifery worldwide by preparing fully qualified midwives to provide high quality, evidence-based health services for women, newborns, and childbearing families.
Participants were drawn from around the world and included midwifery educators and trainers, ICM staff, standing committees and regional midwifery advisers, UNFPA, WHO (HQ, Regions of Africa and Europe), FIGO, various Nongovernmental Organizations such as Save the Children and Merlin, donor supported projects (e.g., Cordaid, USAID, Sida, Commonwealth secretariat) and academic institutions. Many organizations are members of the Alliance and agreed to strengthen collaboration with and through the ICM to ensure tangible progress.
The meeting served as a platform to build consensus on the definition, the role and the competencies of midwives, and participants agreed to join forces to disseminate ICM standards widely at conferences and meetings.