Midwifery education : making sense of the current challenges

Higher education institutions and the NHS both face a number of major challenges. This paper provides an overview of some of the key contemporary publications that will have an impact on the UK university system in the coming months, and attempts to clarify their potential and real effect on the future of midwifery education and the ongoing development of midwifery curriculum. There is a very real risk that recent government proposals for future higher education funding in conjunction with their major reconfiguration of the NHS will both fragment and destabilise existing university education systems. Money is tight, and will become tighter, making the task of meeting the demands of midwifery stakeholders, while not compromising on the quality of the midwifery student experience, even harder for educators. Women and their partners deserve a safe transition to parenthood and a positive and life-enhancing experience of UK maternity services—in the coming months midwifery curricula will be judged on their ability to facilitate this.