The next in the series on developing an international midwifery programme, Maeve O’Connell describes the next part of the journey in Abu Dhabi. Teaching and learning is happening and she shares how their involvement is now opening doors to other exciting opportunities.
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Midwifery in Abu Dhabi is here!
1. Commencing a new programme
I am one year in the UAE this week and it is amazing to think how much has been achieved in such a short period of time. When I joined Dr Gina at Fatima College of Health Sciences in Abu Dhabi last year, starting the Midwifery programme seemed like a bit of a long shot to be honest. We were hopeful, and optimistic, but there was always the chance that it might not happen. I feel lucky to have been part of this team because we both have our strengths and work well to maximise them. The timing was fortunate because both our previous experiences working in the UK helped a lot in the development of the programme since we had just come through the Future Midwife education standards updates in our respective previous universities.
A tremendous amount of work has made commencing this BSc in Midwifery Degree programme possible with only two Midwifery Academics.
Starting this blog today, I must try to organize my thoughts because honestly so much has happened since we wrote the last blog! I find myself looking in the diary for key dates and going back through the photos in my phone to remind me. The last two months have been a whirlwind.
The BSc Midwifery degree programme is now up and running in Fatima College of Health Sciences since the beginning of this academic term. It seems like we can feel the passion and momentum for midwifery in the UAE is gathering. We have been sharing our progress locally, via social media and in this regular blog for the Maternity and Midwifery Forum. We have made many connections in the midwifery community in Abu Dhabi through various events and the educational audits that we conducted. The midwives we know are excited about welcoming the midwifery students into clinical placement and for the future increasing workforce of midwives.
Getting our purple midwifery scrubs was a lovely surprise as we were gifted them from a graduate nurse (Sherin) from Fatima College who heard about the programme and wanted to wish us well. They are absolutely perfect, and we are proud to be clearly identifiable as midwives on the campus!
We are so proud of our courageous new class of midwifery students at Fatima College.
Remember, this was a leap of faith for them to begin to study this new programme. Little is known about midwifery in this country and birth is very medicalised and dominated by obstetrics. Midwives working in a full scope of practice are not well understood in the local culture. Our programme is developed based on the essential competencies of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), thus the students will be educated according to international standards, prepared to work in full scope.
Not only this, but we are trialing teaching in a new way for them – using the ‘block system’ of midwifery education where we will frontload with theory and lab simulation before exposure to the clinical area. These students have complete faith in us and have embraced the challenge.
This is an example of a poster assignment by our student Huda Alhammadi about Delayed Cord Clamping:
They have come through the midterm and their first exams and assignments. They are forging friendships and strong bonds already. We all know that midwifery friendships are for life, and it feels like finding your tribe!
We have trialed some creative ways of teaching and learning with the students and they are getting used to our sometimes-hilarious ways of trying to help them remember things. Learning can be fun, and a bit of humour really helps!
In the first week we did a Team- Building activity to illustrate the of team building by building a tower with spaghetti, marshmallows, sellotape and string. This helped to get the students talking more and get to know each other. It illustrated the ‘forming, ‘norming’, ’storming’ and ‘performing’ well. They then wrote a reflection on the activity.
Another week Dr Gina led the creative physiology session by using coloured clay to create the pelvic floor. The students got down into the detail of the muscles and ligaments with keen attention to detail. We then created clay cervixes to demonstrate the cervical effacement and dilatation. Balloons have featured quite a lot in the teaching, and it has been so funny to start the day blowing up balloons! Balloons were used to learn the sutures of the fetal skull amongst other things!
Pelvic Floor in Clay held by Dr Georgina Sosa
Fetal Skulls modelled on balloons
Teaching the midwifery and medical terminologies in English when the native language is Arabic is challenging. We try to use some methods to explain and remember words like mnemonics, using hand actions and sometimes even singing the words!
We also had a fantastic interprofessional learning opportunity along with the paramedic department and nursing, in collaboration with Leader Healthcare who provide our simulation equipment. A scenario was played where a woman had an unplanned homebirth and had a haemorrhage; the paramedics arrived on scene, called the midwives and transferred to the hospital where the team managed the postpartum haemorrhage.
We are hopeful for the future and excited to see our students progress!
Maxine Minton and Dr Gina Sosa simulating transfer of a patient ‘Lucina’ from home to hospital.
2. Midwifery in the UAE
We were delighted to have an abstract accepted for the ICM conference in Bali 2023.
Many opportunities have arisen, with various invitations to wonderful, impactful events. Dr Gina and I have been invited to be involved in the development of midwifery in this country at a national level. I attended the National Committee Workshop: Roadmap for the Implementation of the UAE Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery (2022-2026) in which regulation and scope of Nursing and Midwifery were discussed with two colleagues, Dr Alexander Gleason and Dr Annie Rosita.
Dr Alexander Gleason, Dr Maeve O’Connell, Dr Annie Rosita
Dr Gina received a prestigious invitation to be part of the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) team for a week in Dubai, gaining valuable insight into the accreditation process here in the UAE.
We have also been invited to join the Emirates Nursing Association to the Midwives Section. The election of a new committee will happen next week. This includes membership of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM).
Dr Gina attended the Midwifery Conference at Kanad Hospital in Al Ain which showcased midwifery in the region and was an opportunity to network with local midwives. We both presented work at the Corniche Hospital International Conference online. We were both honoured to attend a Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Forum in Dubai, sponsored by Obix Healthcare, in which world leading midwifery expert Prof Hannah Dahlen presented and I joined in the panel discussion with midwife Karradene Aird.
We are both still teaching full time in both Nursing and Midwifery which does not leave much time for our personal lives! Now, we are living and breathing this programme, it is completely full on. We still have our fingers and toes crossed for accreditation which has not happened yet. The CAA will review all our documents and give feedback soon. We are living in the moment, enjoying, and trusting the process.
Dr Maeve O’Connell,
FCHS
Abu Dhabi
October 2022