助産師教育の現状と将来展望

Tokushima University has enjoyed a 50-year history of midwifery education, since its initiation in 1957 （Showa 32）. In recent years, nursing education has been transformed into a 4-year university course, and universities that include midwifery education in their 4-year education have also been increasing. However, to successfully completed the required courses in nursing/community health nursing/midwifery during the 4-year period, the curriculum naturally becomes quite congested. Under these circumstances, students face the situation of not being able to earn a sufficient number of credits to prove that they have “received sufficient diagnostic training during the intrapartal period and their ability to provide individual care associated with the diagnosis by assisting in about 10 deliveries”. In each university providing midwifery education, students give up their holidays to perform clinical training, and the burden placed on midwifery students has therefore been excessively increasing. In addition, a prolongation of the midwifery clinical training time considerably affects the nursing/community health nursing curriculum. In this situation, Tokushima University established the first graduate course of the midwifery program in a national university for student who aim to become midwives.
In this review, I show the present status of midwives and their present education in Japan and describe the ideal state of midwifery education in the future while calling for the increased understanding and cooperation of many people.

四国医学雑誌 : http://www.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp/article/0012780.html