According to European Union Standards for Nursing and Midwifery (Vgl. FH-Heb-AV StF: BGBl. II Nr. 1/2006 (Version 2016) midwifery students shall care for and assist the mother during labor and monitor the condition of the fetus in utero by appropriate clinical and technical measures. Counselling situations shall be practiced in this semester.
Students shall get introduced to the support and care of the woman during labor and delivery and the postpartum period as well as the observation and care of the healthy newborn immediately after birth. Students shall also expand their experiences in lactation counselling, the first latch and the initial treatment of the newborn postpartum.

Students will have in-depth knowledge of midwifery teaching including process-oriented care, counseling and care during the antepartum period, stages of labor and postpartum period as well as the support and care of newborns.

RESG, MEDG-1, PSHEB-1, BP1

This course focuses on basic knowledge of labor stages, birth mechanisms and dynamics and different laboring positions. All of this shall be practiced in skills trainings. Students shall get the opportunity to practice taking measures and to provide laboring mothers with comforting support. Students shall also provide manual diagnostics to monitor the unborn baby during labor. During skills trainings students shall also practice vaginal examinations on models as well as how to draw blood from the umbilical cord, how to promote breast feeding and how to prepare injections and infusions.

The skills training in midwifery education serve to provide technical and scientific basis to link job-specific contents with practical work processes. Students shall attend skills trainings for practical exercises prior to hands-on internship experience.
Contents of skills training:
personal hygiene and hand disinfection
admission to the delivery room
reviewing medical history
external examination (Leopold's, measurement of pelvic,...)
Usage of the patient bed
ensuring privacy
auscultation of fetal heart tones with Pinard's stethoscope
introduction to cardiotocography
preparation of obstetric instruments for birth
usage of technical instruments (syringe pump, infusion pump)
monitoring of vital signs of mother and child
information, support and care of the mother and the family during the prenatal and postpartum period
initial treatment after birth of the mother and the newborn
administration of prophylaxis and bonding
First latch, bonding
Assistance with breast feeding
Promotion of healing processes during the post partum period
Nursing measures during puerperium (cesarean section, wound management)
Consultation about infant nutrition
Communication
Documentation

Additional skills including process-oriented care, counseling and care during the antenatal period, delivera and the postpartum period as well as support and care of newborns and infants.

Taking measures in non-drug pain relief (like water, massages, etc.)
Vaginal examination
Diagnoses of birth injuries
Umbilical cord blood draw
A venous access
Supporting and advising mothers in breastfeeding
Prepartion of infusions and injections
Evidence-based counselling and care in pregnancy like explaining pregancy discomfort symptoms, health promoting measures like quitting to smoke, nutrition and dietetics
Indwelling catheter (permanent or once)
Water birth
Dynamic and mechanics of childbirth
Active and non-active management of the third stage of labor
Mobilisation, thermal measures and personal hygiene after cesarean section and vaginal delivery
Prophylaxis of infections and thrombosis
Breast and abdominal massages
Extended studies of breastfeeding counselling

Davis, Elizabeth (2012). Heart and hands: a midwife's guide to pregnancy and birth (5. Auflage). Berkeley, Calif.: Ten Speed.
Deutscher Hebammenverband (2010). Geburtsarbeit. Hebammenwissen zur Unterstützung der physiologischen Geburt (2. Auflage). Stuttgart: Hippokrates.
Eirich, Martina (2007). Praktisch bewährte Hebammenkniffe. Stuttgart: Hippokrates.
Mändle, Christine & Opitz-Kreuter, Sonja (2015). Das Hebammenbuch (6. Auflage). Stuttgart/New York: Schattauer.
Schmid, Verena (2011). Der Geburtsschmerz: Bedeutung und natürliche Methoden der Schmerzlinderung (2. Auflage). Stuttgart: Hippokrates.
Schneider, Henning, Husslein, Peter & Schneider, Karl-Theodor (2016). Die Geburtshilfe (5. Auflage). Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.
Stiefel, Andrea, Geist, Christine & Harder, Ulrike (2013). Hebammenkunde. Lehrbuch für Schwangerschaft, Geburt, Wochenbett und Beruf (5. Auflage). Stuttgart: Hippokrates.
Walsh, Denis (2007): Evidence-based care for normal labour and birth: A guide for midwives. Abigdon: Routhledge.
ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften/BFH Berner Fachhochschule (Hg.)(2014). Schwangerschaft: Skills für Hebammen. Band 1. Bern: hep Verlag.
ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften/BFH Berner Fachhochschule (Hg.)(2014). Geburt: Skills für Hebammen. Band 2. Bern: hep Verlag.
ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften/BFH Berner Fachhochschule (Hg.)(2014). Neugeborenes: Skills für Hebammen. Band 3. Bern: hep Verlag.
ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften/BFH Berner Fachhochschule (Hg.)(2014). Wochenbett: Skills für Hebammen. Band 4. Bern: hep Verlag.

Lecture, group work, guided practice sessions in small groups, use of obstetric materials and models

Module examination