title: Collective action for the development of national standards for midwifery education in Australia.
abstract: This article describes a sequence of events that led to the development of national standards for the accreditation of Australian midwifery education programmes for initial registration. This process occurred within a climate of polarised opinions about the value of the introduction of three-year degree programmes for midwives who are not nurses (known as the BMid in Australia) and concerns about the invisibility of midwifery within nursing regulation, education, policy and nomenclature. Concerted efforts to develop standards to inform the introduction of BMid programmes through a process of collective action are described. This involved arguing successfully for the positioning of midwifery as a separate profession from nursing, with a need for its own discreet regulation.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, Faculty of Health, Level 7, Building 10, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia. Electronic address: nickyleap@me.com.
authors.forename: Nicky
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leap
authors.affiliation: Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, Faculty of Health, Level 7, Building 10, University of Technology, Sydney, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brodie
authors.affiliation: Midwifery and Women's Health Research Unit, Royal Hospital for Women, Barker Street, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia; University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Sally K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Tracy
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards*; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003479:Curriculum; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008880:Midwifery / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards*; D009721:Nurse Midwives / Q000193:education*; D011247:Pregnancy; D017009:Professional Autonomy
keywords: 3-year Bachelor of Midwifery; Australian Midwifery Action Project; Midwifery education; Midwifery regulation; National education standards