Midwifery Background Requirements for Eligibility FOR UBC’s Internationally Educated Midwives Bridging Program
To be selected for the IEMBP, you must be educated as a midwife, meet eligibility requirements, and be able to acquire everything you need to practice midwifery in Canada with the IEMBP.
Midwives come from different backgrounds, so the IEMBP requires proof of different combinations of education and experience.
You will need to provide proof that you meet the eligibility requirements outlined below.
A Form: Proof of Education and Clinical Experience
Midwifery Education Requirements
What kind of midwifery education do I need?
You must have graduated from a recognized midwifery education program offered by an accredited educational institution (direct-entry, post-nursing or post-naturopathic)
How long does my midwifery education program need to be?
• a minimum of 24 months of full-time midwifery education
OR
• at least 2400 clinical hours and 850 academic hours over a minimum of 18 months of midwifery education
OR
• a minimum of one academic year of full-time post-nursing or post-naturopathic midwifery education.
What needs to have been included in my midwifery education program?
7 required criteria of a midwifery education program:
- Both theoretical and clinical studies, with clearly-defined competencies and outcomes;
- Coverage of all aspects of care (antenatal and intrapartum care, and postpartum and newborn care to at least 28 days) from the perspective of the midwife providing care on her own responsibility;
- An educational framework that enables students to link theory to practice;
- Supervised clinical practice that integrates theory into midwifery practice;
- Clinical placements in a jurisdiction or jurisdictions where midwifery practice is regulated OR in a Canadian province or territory in the two years before midwifery legislation was passed;
- The fundamentals of safe evidence-based midwifery care;
- An evaluation process that allows students to incorporate their learning progressively and verifies that the student has met the defined competencies of the program.
*With every A Form submission, applicants are required to have an educational credential assessment done by either the World Education Services – Canada (WES) or the International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES) through BCIT. You must request that a copy of your course by course evaluation report be sent to the IEMBP office. Please go to website of choice for information on how this process works and what documents must be sent to them. There is a fee for this service that is the applicants responsibility.
Not all midwifery education programs will be recognized as meeting the IEMBP entrance requirements. Individual applications will be assessed on education and experience. Midwives whose training was in a midwifery school not recognized by the IEMBP, may still be considered but will be required then to demonstrate their suitability for the course by completing competency testing. This comprises of a written exam and OSCE type examinations.
If you need to do this competency testing, you will be required to come to Vancouver PRIOR to your acceptance on the course. Dates for competency testing will be set when the demand is known, and will happen only once per year. You may also be asked to provide evidence of extra study, if your midwifery course is found to be lacking in a certain area.
B Form: Proof of Registration and Clinical Experience
Requirements for Registration as a Midwife
What are the requirements related to registration as a midwife?
- You must have registered with a regulatory organization or government department that: has authority to govern the profession; keeps a register of midwives; and regulates the standards and practice of midwifery, AND
- You have had good professional conduct during your career which can be proven by a certificate of good conduct or equivalent from a regulatory organization or government department,
AND
- You have actively practiced midwifery for at least 5 out of the last 10 years while registered with a midwifery regulatory organization
OR
- Have completed a Midwifery education program within the last 5 years and have met the 100 primary birth requirements of all applicants through education and experience prior to your submission of application to the IEMBP
Clinical Experience Requirements
How much midwifery experience do I need?
- 100 births as primary midwife during the last 10 years,
AND
- Education or experience in antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum and newborn care from the perspective of a midwife providing evidence-based care on her own responsibility. Postpartum care must have been provided beyond the first 24 hours after birth up to a minimum of 2 weeks postpartum as a part of your education and/or experience.
Does midwifery experience from all regions count?
All of the clinical experience that you use to meet IEMBP requirements must have happened in:
- A jurisdiction or jurisdictions where midwifery is regulated
OR
- A Canadian province or territory in the two years before midwifery became regulated
OR
- A situation in which practice is overseen by a recognized organization acceptable to the Canadian Midwifery Regulators Consortium (CMRC).
Important Note: Meeting the eligibility requirements of the IEMBP does not guarantee that you will be offered a place in the IEMBP. In addition to verifying that applicants meet eligibility criteria, the assessment of applications is designed to select those applicants with the best chance of success in bridging into Canadian practice through the IEMBP.
Glossary:
Primary/Principal Midwife
The primary (principal) midwife is a midwife with complete, non-delegated, responsibility for the care of a woman and her newborn. The primary midwife is normally responsible for managing the labour and delivery and for the immediate care of the newborn. In cases where complications arise, the primary midwife makes the decision to transfer care, coordinates the transfer, collaborates with the health professional to whom she has referred her client, and provides supportive care after the transfer occurs. Supervised student midwives who act in the role of primary midwife, at a level appropriate for their stage of training, are also included in this definition. This does not include births as an observer.
Accredited educational institution:
A school that has been officially recognized by an external accrediting authority as meeting appropriate quality standards. In most countries, accrediting authorities are government organizations, but in some (e.g. USA), they are private organizations.
Direct-entry midwifery education:
A formal midwifery education program that does not require a healthcare qualification for entry.
Jurisdiction:
The territory within which the given laws apply.
“On their own responsibility”:
The midwife is responsible for all care they provide and decisions they make during the course of pregnancy, labour, delivery, and postpartum. The care and decisions are not delegated from, directed by, or supervised by any other care provider.
Post-naturopathic midwifery education:
A formal midwifery education program that requires a doctor of naturopathic medicine qualification for entry. Note: a formal naturopathic midwifery program that is integrated within the basic naturopathic program may also be included in this definition if it is equivalent.
Post-nursing midwifery education:
A formal midwifery education program that requires a nursing qualification for entry.
Self-directed midwifery education:
A midwifery education program designed by and for an individual student that is not connected to a formal program. Sometimes called “apprenticeship training.” (Self-directed education must be pre-approved by a Canadian regulatory body for admission to the IEMBP).