Teaching spirituality to student midwives: a creative approach

The nature of midwifery both as an art and a science requires methods of teaching students that will enhance this understanding. A philosophy of holistic care of women should underpin education of student midwives and these concepts should be put across to the students in meaningful ways. In the formal midwifery curriculum this has been a neglected aspect (Hall, 2001) [Hall, J., 2001. Midwifery Mind and spirit: emerging issues of care. Books for Midwives, Oxford]. We have developed a teaching session on 'Spirituality and the meaning of birth'. A creative approach, using mediums of video, music, aroma and storytelling, combined with an opportunity for the students to express their selves through art have been utilised (Cameron, 1993) [Cameron, J., 1993. The Artists Way--A course in discovering and recovering your creative self. Pan Macmillan, London]. Although creative approaches in teaching arts based disciplines is well established, these approaches have not been evaluated for their effectiveness within midwifery education. We conducted a study which aimed to develop an understanding of student's views on the meaning of birth by examining creative work produced by the student midwives. This aspect is reported elsewhere. Further exploration through open-ended questionnaires was made of the effectiveness and value of the activity as a teaching method. This paper will describe the innovative teaching methods used. In addition student's views of birth established through their art and their views of the teaching session elicited through our research will be explored.