1.     General Information:

The Midwifery Program is an integral part of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Debre Berhan University, which operates under a well-established public university founded in 1999 E.C. (2006 G.C.). The Program was officially launched in 2004 E.C. (2012/2013 G.C.) in direct response to Ethiopia’s urgent need for skilled maternal and newborn healthcare providers. Since its inception, the program has made significant strides in producing competent, ethical, and compassionate midwives equipped with the knowledge and skills to deliver quality, evidence-based care. Each year, the program admits approximately 24 to 70 students, and to date, it has successfully graduated more than 8 cohorts of midwives, many of whom are now contributing meaningfully to the national health system in both rural and urban settings. The program operates within a dynamic academic ecosystem alongside other health science disciplines within Asrat Woldeyes Health Science Campus.

2.     Mission of the program

To train competent, compassionate, respectful, and caring midwives who can provide holistic sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent and youth health (SRMNCAYH) services at community and health facility levels with focus on health promotion and disease prevention.

3.     Program goals/Objectives

 To equip midwives with a complex mix of knowledge, skill, attitudes, and preparing competent graduate midwives to their expected professional roles in the broader society.

4.     Program Educational Outcome (PEO)

After three to five years of graduation, the program will be able to:

1. Produce proficient midwives who detect and manage maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health problems and provide compassionate and respectful maternity care at health institutions.

2.  Produce employable and innovative midwives in maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health.

3.   Create midwives who are organizational managers and leaders, communicators, educators, and lifelong learner in their respective field of expertise.

4.  Produce qualified midwives who conduct problem solving research project and provide efficient community services.

5.     Program learning outcomes (PLO)

Up on graduation, the midwives will be able to:

PLO 1. Apply knowledge of biomedical science to provide basic professional midwifery care, manage medical and surgical conditions, and provide appropriate care for mentally ill patients in the health institutions and in the community.

PLO 2. Examine and manage normal and abnormal obstetrics and gynecologic conditions and provide person centered Midwifery care.

PLO 3. Conduct research and review different literatures to practice up to-date evidence based midwifery care

PLO 4. Apply principles of health promotion and disease prevention interventions to prevent, assess, diagnose and manage priority problems for individuals, groups, and communities.

PLO 5. Order different investigations and interpret it accordingly to reach in the possible patient problems and involve other discipline for better management of the case.

PLO 6. Provide new-born care, and manage, maternal, neonatal, child, adolescent and sexual reproductive health problems, and give individualized care with respect to ethical, legal practice and cultural context of midwifery practice.

PLO 7. Apply effective managerial & leadership skills, integrate principles of quality improvement in the provision of midwifery care and maintain a safe working environment through the use of quality assurance and risk management strategies.

PLO 8. Provide high quality pre pregnancy care, family planning counselling and service provision both in the community and clinical setting in order to promote healthy family life.

6.     Career opportunities of the Midwifery graduates

 7.     Admission Requirement and criteria of the program

Admissions to all regular undergraduate programs are processed through the Ministry of Education and have customarily been students with natural science background and medically fit. Given the importance of having valid evidence-based, comprehensive and fair student selection criteria, it is recommended that Universities develop a defensible guideline. In addition to academic achievement, a literature review by Bore and his colleagues suggests using a combination of informed self-selection, general cognitive ability testing and aspects of personality and interpersonal communication skills to maximize the probability of making accurate, fair and defensible selection decisions

Based on Ministry of Education HEI admission guideline plus

ü  Pass Midwifery program selection criteria

ü  Free from disability that hinders midwifery care provision

ü  Interested to attend midwifery program

ü  Good success in freshman courses

8.     Graduate Competencies

To achieve the midwifery program learning outcomes, critical review of existing local and international documents on learning outcomes (including existing BSc curriculum, scope of practice document, ICM recommendations for such a training), the core (essential) competencies a midwife student must demonstrate at the end of graduation are defined. The core competencies are organized in thirteen domains or themes as:

1.         Social, epidemiologic & cultural context of midwifery practice

2.         Pre-conception, reproductive and adolescent health Care

3.         Family planning services

4.         Midwifery Care during pregnancy

5.         Midwifery Care during Labor and Delivery/ birth

6.         Postpartum Midwifery Care

7.         Midwifery Care for New-borns and children

8.         Midwifery Care for Gynecologic patients

9.         Organizational Management & Leadership

10.      Research and evidence-based midwifery care

11.      Interpersonal relationship and communication

12.      Professional, ethical & legal Midwifery practice

13.      Basic midwifery care

9. Grading and promotion

Letter grades shall be given based on the points earned out of 100. The letter grading system has a fixed scale as described in the table below.

 10.  Requirement for promotion

-       Promotion will be conducted every academic year except first year

-       The pass mark for core modules will be at least a C grade.

-       The pass mark for the supportive module  will be at least a D grade,

-       If the student scores D in core Module, he/she shall be allowed to take re-exam

-       If a student fails (F) in any module, the student will be required to repeat the failed modules or attachments.

-       Any student who fails to score at least a C grade in core modules / clinical attachment, after a re-exam exam, she/he shall repeat the module.

-       If a student fails again after the repeat and re-exam, the student will be Academic dismissal and repeat the module next year.

-       A student who fails to pass the core module three times shall be dismissed for good.

-       Pre-internship qualifying examination will be given at the end of third year and any student who failed in the pre-internship qualifying examination must repeat a similar content exam after 1- 2week of preparation (reading, tutorial or re-demonstration). However, if a student fails again after the repeat, the student will be withdrawn and readmitted for the duration of one year. But, He/she shall not repeat the modules grades.

11.  Minimum practice requirements in modules to be graduate

The students will be expected to complete the following activities during their clinical attachment before graduation under supervision

-       Observe 10 and perform 50 Antenatal Care including history taking and physical examination

-       Identify and care for 5 women with complications in the antenatal ward

-       Observe 3 and provide 40 TT vaccines

-       Observe 3 and conduct 40 ANC educations

-       Observe 5 and perform 40 history taking of woman in labor

-       Observe 5 and perform 40 physical examinations

-       Observe 5, assist 5 and perform 10 obstetric U/S guiding examination

-       Observe/assisted 5 and perform 40 vaginal examinations

-       Observe/assisted 5 and monitor 40 clients using partograph

-       Observe 5, assist 5 and conduct 40 normal deliveries

-       Observe 3, assist 3 and perform and repair 10 episiotomies

-       Observe 3, assist 3 and perform 5 vacuum extractions

-       Observe/assist 3 and perform 40 active management of third stage of labor

-       Observe 3, assist 2 and perform 5 manual removals of retained placenta

-       Observe 5, assist 2 breech deliveries and manage 3 breech deliveries

-       Observe 5 and assist at least 5 C/S

-       Observe 3, assist 3 and perform 10 New born resuscitation

-       Observe 5, assist 3 and perform 25 immediate new born care and examination

-       Observe 3, assist 5 and Perform 25 post-natal care (Mother and Infant)

-       Observe 4, assisted 5 and insert 5 IUCD

-       Observe 4, assist 5 and perform 10 insertion and removal of implant

-       Observe 5, assisted 3 and perform 5 MVA

-       Observe 5 BCG, measles, and pentavalent of each & perform 20 BCG, 30 measles and 50 pentavalent

-       Observe 5 and Counsel & provide 60 oral contraceptive pill

-       Observe 5 and give 60 Injectables contraceptives

-       Observe 2 and Perform 5 Counselling on PMTCT

12.  Graduation Requirement

Graduation requirement will be according to each university rule and regulation. Thus, a student enrolled in the BSc midwifery program is eligible for graduation if and only if he/she:  Graduation requirement will be according to each university rule and regulation. Thus, a student enrolled in the generic BSc midwifery program is eligible for graduation if and only if he/she:

-       Has taken all the required courses for the program and obtained a minimum CGPA of 2.

-       Student should be able to pass the national exit exam of the country.

-       The student should pass the compressive exam to sit for exit/licensure examination administered by external examiners (MOE/MOH).

-       Has not scored ‘F’ grade in any course, and should score at least grade ‘C’ grade in any practicum and core course

-       Has carried out a student research project on a selected and agreed topic of research problem and scored a minimum of ‘C’ grade in his/her thesis report.

13. Thematic areas of profession

·       Preconception care

·       Antenatal care

·       Labor and delivery

·       Postnatal care

·       Family planning

·       Neonatal and child health care

·       Immunization

·       Adolescent and Youth Health

·       Sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

·       Gynecologic cares

·       Infertility

·       Comprehensive abortion care

·       Operative delivery care

·       Instrumental delivery

·       PMTCT

·       Counselling

·       SRH in Humanitarian situation

·       Emergency obstetric care

·       Education, clinical supervision, guiding, and ME

·       Regulation in RMNCAYH and midwifery practice

·       Management and leadership

·       Research 

14. Career ladder

The midwife can have the following careers to peruse:

1.     MSc in Clinical Midwifery

2.     MSc in Midwifery and Women’s Health

3.     MSc in Midwifery Education

4.     MSc in Midwifery Practice and Leadership

5.     MSc in Clinical Sexual Reproductive Health

6.     MSc in Neonatal Health

7.     MSc in Perinatal Health

8.     MPH in Reproductive Health and all other relevant specialties

9.     MSc in Maternity and Reproductive health

10.  MSc in Women’s Health

11.  MSc in Adolescent Health Care

12.  MSc in Gender and Development

13.  MSc in Neonatal and Child Health

14.  MSc in Perinatal Mental Health

15.  MSc/MPH in other related fields of study