Maintaining the knowledge and neonatal resuscitation skills of student midwives 6 months after an educational program

Training student midwives in neonatal resuscitation is essential because the midwife is present at every birth and must be able to perform resuscitation procedures when needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate student midwives' retention of theoretical knowledge about resuscitation as well as their practical application of that knowledge 6 months after training.

A cross-sectional study was conducted for two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016, among 49 student midwives in the middle of their second and final year of training at the University of Applied Sciences in Western Switzerland. The study included assessments of both theoretical knowledge and practical skills regarding neonatal resuscitation 6 months after each participant had completed the training program. The students' theoretical knowledge was evaluated using a multiple-choice question (MCQ) test, the results of which were compared with results from the same MCQ test that had been obtained 6 months earlier. The students' practical skills were evaluated following a simulation workshop by analyzing recorded videos and applying scores using an adapted validated grid.

The MCQ pretest and MCQ posttest (after 6 months) scores showed no statistically significant difference (z=-1.583, P=0.113). In terms of the practical skills assessment, 25% of the students (11/44) were considered insufficiently skilled for the table preparation. During the simulation, 22 teams of students were available for analysis. Of these, 11 teams (50.0%) were considered insufficiently skilled. The skills observation findings showed an integration of technical gestures for the majority of the teams, but the items demonstrated a lack of organization and management.

Neonatal resuscitation training for student midwives shows that their theoretical knowledge seems to be well assimilated while practical skills are unevenly retained. Certain elements, as indicated by the detail of the analysis grid, need to be reinforced by additional workshops before the end of the training.