Hi Ruth,
I was involved in the core competency research project and carried out the
New Zealand arm of the study. The project in this country involved
practicing registered midwives identifying which competencies should be
classified as midwifery competencies, rather than testing or assessing them.
It was this phase of the competency identification process that I was most
concerned about from a midwifery perspective, and from a feminist
perspective for that matter.

The competencies identified a number of individual aspects of care, many of
them tasks, which when strung together would equal, for example a midwife
working with a woman through her labour and birth. However, once plucked
apart, what's to stop an assessment process that measures achievement of
each single competency individually at different points of time, in
different situations and over a period of time, to classify that person to
be competent in all of the areas, without assessing their ability to use the
competencies in a specific order or on a specific occasion.

The one key competency missing in my opinion, was the ability to give
midwifery care to the same woman throughout her childbearing period (i.e, to
provide continuity of care through pregnancy, labour birth and postpartum!).
That's the key midwifery competency! To me this is the one competency that
should distinguish midwives from all other care givers to childbearing
women.


Sorry I cannot be more helpful with your assessment process.
Kind regards
Chris Hendry
Postgraduate midwifery lecturer
New Zealand


Chris Hendry
----- Original Message -----
From: Ruth Montgomery <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2003 2:37 AM
Subject: Core Competencies


> Dear all,
>
> I have just started as a clinical tutor for nursing students, health
> assessments(who do deliveries in the isolated towns and settlements in
> Greenland), and other health personnel that work within obstetrics and
> reproductive health in Greenland.
>
> During 2000-2002 the Core competencies were tested throughout the
> midwifery world. I would like to contact some of the educators  and
> students that were apart of the process.
> My main interest is collecting information on what tools were used to
> assess the skills of the participants.
> How was the assessment in areas were there are several different types
> of midwives with different educational background.
> These are my main interests at the moment.
> I hope that I will hear from you.
>
> Sincerely
>
>
> Ruth Montgomery-Andersen
> Instruktionsjordemoder/ Clinical Tutor
> Queen Ingrids Hospital
> Box 1001
> dk 3900
> Nuuk
> Greenland
>