PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre Spotlight Series
Reference Number: CHI-18
Official Title: PAHO/WHO CC for Development of Midwifery
Institution: School of Midwifery, University of Chile
Category 3 (SP 14-19)
Outcome 1, 2 (SP 20-25)
Dr. Bremen de Mucio, Advisor, Sexual and Reproductive Health, is the PAHO staff member who acts as the Region’s focal point to coordinate the collaboration between the institution and the Organization.
The main activities conducted by this Centre include: (1) capacity-building; (2) participating in technical consultations; (3) translating materials into Spanish; (4) reviewing book chapters, manuals, course curriculums and toolkits; and (5) conducting research.
The Centre at the School of Midwifery provides Training of Trainers in Competency- Based Education (TOT-CBE) and TOT in Evaluation of CBE. These trainings, in collaboration with the UN Population Fund and faculties from 10 universities in Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, use WHO midwifery educator competencies in educational activities. Currently, there are 20 instructors in CBE and 177 lecturers trained in CBE.
The Centre participated in a technical consultation to develop a World Health Assembly 2019 report and is currently participating in the Training of Human Resources for Health to Improve the Quality of Maternal Health in Latin America and the Caribbean Project.
The Centre also translated three WHO books on Midwifery Educator Competencies into Spanish, including: WHO Midwifery Educators core competencies; WHO Midwifery educator core competencies: building capacities of midwifery educators; Midwifery educator core competencies: Adaptation tool; and “Competency-Based Education: Evaluation Strategies, Instructor Guide.”
The Centre has carried out several training and capacity building activities including the technical consultation to support the implementation of curricular innovation in El Salvador, updating antenatal care chapters of the guidelines for the continuum of care, and reviewing simulation manuals, antenatal care courses, a course curriculum for Nurse Practitioners Midwifery (NPM) Educators Training Program in India and the Essential newborn care (ENCC) module of the Midwifery Skills Education Toolkit.
Lastly, the Centre has collaborated with WHO and PAHO/CLAP on a study analyzing the companions of choice during labor and birth in public hospitals in Latin American countries (in review).
Webnotes such as these serve to inform on how CCs are contributing to the Organization’s priorities and mandates.