Please introduce yourself and tell us about your organization and your role.

My name is Frida Temple. I’m a registered midwife and a PhD student at the University of Gothenburg, investigating the effect of introducing high-quality midwifery education in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which follows the national curriculum with the addition of person-centred care and simulation-based learning in childbirth.

What SDG3 target(s) is your work and the work of the organization most closely aligned with?

Target 3.1, 3.2 and 3.7

Why are these goals particularly important for you, your organization and their mission?

Midwives educated to international standards play a vital role in achieving the SDG targets through reducing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. Despite comprising less than 10% of the healthcare workforce, they deliver around 90% of required sexual, reproductive, maternal, adolescent, and newborn healthcare. Investing in educated midwives could avert around 65% of maternal and newborn deaths including stillbirths and thereby save 4.3 million lives per year by 2035. Well-educated midwives serve as primary caregivers, offering benefits such as reduced instrumental births and increased spontaneous vaginal deliveries, leading to improved health outcomes for women and newborns. By prioritizing midwifery education, we not only address immediate healthcare needs but also lay the foundation for better maternal and newborn health globally.

What projects or initiatives is your organization working on that relate to SDG 3 and how might they help to achieve the SDG 3 targets?

The project is about implementing a high-quality midwifery education programme with specific profiles on person-centred care and simulation-based learning pedagogics at the faculty of medicine and community health at the Evangelical University in Africa, DRC. The integration of a person-centred approach into maternal and newborn healthcare has the potential to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. The same goes for simulation-based learning as it helps learners acquire hands-on knowledge and skills that increase patient safety.

Where is the project(s) based and what groups are involved?

The project is based in South Kivu province in the faculty of medicine and community health at the Evangelical University in Africa the Democratic Republic of Congo. The groups involved are the midwifery students, the academic faculty, and the maternal healthcare providers at the clinical sites.

What are the short- and long-term goals of the project(s)?

The short-term goal is to implement person-centred care and simulation-based training in a midwifery education programme and at its clinical practice sites. The long-term goal is to improve midwifery education to ultimately enhance the health outcomes for women and newborns.

What are the relevant measures of success you are using to determine if the goals of your project are achieved?

First, we are measuring the implementation into the education and evaluating the relevance, feasibility, and adaptability of the two tracks in the context and the education. We will also evaluate how the clinical preceptors view the person-centred care and simulation-based learning. Later, we will measure the impact through the changes in maternal and newborn health outcomes.

What challenges are you facing in advancing your projects/ensuring success?

DRC is a conflict-ridden country with healthcare provision challenges. There is a challenge in delivering education due to a lack of adequately educated faculty as well as a lack of teaching material. It can also be difficult to physically access clinical sites. To ensure success, we are working closely with a locally recruited facilitator who continuously supports the implementation sites.

Who (or what groups) would you like to work with, or would like to be in contact with, to push forward your ideas/projects?

Other institutes and UN agencies working in the areas of healthcare professional education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, midwifery and maternal health.

What other SDGs are the organization, or you as an individual, working towards addressing?

SDG 2 (midwives work with nutrition including breastfeeding), SDG 4 (midwifery education), SDG 5 (midwives work to reduce gender inequality), SDG 10 (midwives work to reduce inequalities in general), SDG 16 (building capacity and sustaining institutions), SDG 17 (building capacity).

Do you feel there is something missing from the specific SDG 3 targets of the areas you are most interested in?

Many of the women targeted in the DRC have gone through sexual violence. This could be a specific target as this issue is very delicate and needs a dedicated approach.