Abstract
Germany faces the challenge of enforcing the academization of midwifery training in
the upcoming months in order to comply with Directive 2013/55/EU. This paper outlines
the related developments and challenges. At the moment, midwifery training in Germany
is still predominantly carried out in technical colleges. In 2019, less than 20% of
midwifery training places were college-based. The current standard training is a dual
training system which combines vocational training with academic-based courses, but
this approach will no longer be feasible once the EU directive has been fully implemented.
Although the existing draft legislation completely transfers midwifery training to
institutions of higher education, various aspects of this concept have remained vague
and do not take account of the laws on higher education in the individual federal
states. Moreover, if midwifery training is to be provided by both universities and
colleges, this will lead to quite different levels of academization within a relatively
small professional group. The concept that universities offer primary qualifications
comes closest to the required quality standards for professional, science-based, practical
and evidence-based midwifery training.
Key words
academization of midwifery - German Midwifery Law - evidence-based midwifery - university
education - primary qualification
