Comparative assessment of Iranian midwifery education curriculum against ICM global standards for midwifery education

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the midwifery curriculum in Iran according to ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education. Methods: In this comparative study the Iranian midwifery education curriculum in the part of ‘Competency in provision of care during pregnancy was compared against ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education (2010) by three researchers using a checklist. In each item (35 items in knowledge domain and 26 item in the skill domain), the entire Iranian midwifery curriculum was searched for similar content, as well as the related courses by numbers. Also evaluation was done for ‘adequacy’ of each item by a 4 point Likert scale (Adequate, Relatively adequate, Relatively inadequate, Inadequate). Results: Quality assessment distribution of the Iranian midwifery curriculum in terms of Basic knowledge and Skill domain in context of ‘Competency in Provision of Care during Pregnancy’ shows that from 35 items in basic knowledge domain, 47.57 % were adequate, 15 % relatively adequate, 2.85 % relatively inadequate and 2% were inadequate. In Skill domain from 26 items, 53.85% were adequate and 46.15% were relatively inadequate. In two items there is no related content in this curriculum including” Signs of female genital cutting and its effects on reproductive health” and “Normal limits of results from community-relevant laboratory tests commonly performed in pregnancy”.  Conclusion: The curriculum of midwifery education in Iran covers ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education (2010) in ‘Competency in Provision of Care during Pregnancy’ domain except for two items. Therefore, not covering these important issues is one of the most noteworthy weaknesses of this curriculum and should be considered in future reforms.