Evaluation of midwifery pelvic floor education and Training across the UK and Spain.

Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol

Department of Health Sciences, College of Life Sciences, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE17RH, UK. Electronic address:

Published: January 2021

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate current education and training of student and registered midwives across the UK and Spain; analysing both pelvic floor teaching and practical experience.

Study Design: A cross-sectional survey was carried out by 711 student and 384 registered midwives across different universities and regions in the UK and Spain.

Results: The vast majority (91.5 % n = 382) of UK students complete training without ever cutting or repairing an episiotomy. This compares to 39.4 % (n = 85) of registered midwives who did not cut an episiotomy during training. Only 20 % (n = 9) of Spanish and 10 % (n = 45) of UK registered midwives felt confident undertaking these techniques. In Spain just 15 % (n = 6) of students, compared to 54.8 % (n = 80) of registered midwives had received teaching on longer-term pelvic floor complications.

Conclusion: There is a considerable deficit in the current training practices for midwives regarding episiotomies. This lack of practice and confidence may be impacting on the increased rates of perineal tears and pelvic dysfunction in post-partum women. Across registered midwives there are gaps in education regarding longer-term pelvic floor complications. Our study was limited by a smaller sample size from Spain compared to the UK. Our results show practical assessment of skills during training is desirable and could improve both the confidence and competence of midwives upon registration.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2020.10.065DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

registered midwives
24
pelvic floor
16
education training
8
midwives
8
longer-term pelvic
8
training
6
registered
6
pelvic
5
evaluation midwifery
4
midwifery pelvic
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!