Vocational Training Week: Falko Mohrs informed himself about the dual bachelor's degree program in midwifery science at the MHH
Minister Falko Mohrs (seated on the left) gets up-to-date information in the skills lab for expectant midwives. Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH
13.03.2023
Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony's Minister of Science and Culture, today visited the new Skills Lab for midwives at Hannover Medical School (MHH) to mark the start of Vocational Training Week. The Minister informed himself about the relatively new dual Bachelor's degree program in Midwifery Science, which has been available at the university since the winter semester 2021/22. "Midwifery science is still one of the rather newer fields academically in Germany and at the same time is of particular importance to society - the need for skilled workers is considerable. I am even more pleased that we as a state have taken action here very promptly together with the MHH. The MHH is an outstanding human medicine institution and also offers the bachelor's degree program in midwifery in excellent quality," said the Minister on site. There are currently 61 young women studying midwifery science at MHH. MHH President Professor Dr Michael Manns and Professor Dr Mechthild Groß, head of the degree program, accompanied the minister.
"The MHH is one of the great training institutions in Lower Saxony," Professor Manns emphasised. "The bachelor's degree program in midwifery is an important building block in our concept for the academisation of the health professions." Moreover, Professor Groß added: "Midwives bear a very great responsibility for expectant mothers and their children at the beginning of life. That is why it is all the more important that they are trained with the latest scientific knowledge and a high level of practical experience."
A practice lab for students
The SkillsLab has been open to midwifery students at MHH since the end of 2022. A SkillsLab is a practice lab for students. They do not practice on humans, but on simulation models: Aspiring midwives can learn the most important movements for their future profession there under supervision and in a protected learning atmosphere. Since this winter semester, there has been a dedicated SkillsLab for midwives, as it was made compulsory for midwifery studies in the Midwives Act of 2019. This means that students have access to a fully equipped delivery room, a room for the care of newborns, pregnant women and mothers in the postpartum period, as well as a multifunctional room in the modern training rooms for prospective midwives. The new SkillsLab complements what is on offer for students at the MHH. The SkillsLab Hannover has already existed for more than ten years for the HannibaL medical degree program.
Old post office transformed into modern training rooms for students
The midwives-to-be have moved into the rooms of the university's former post office. Where once letters were sorted and parcels were accepted for the university, the students now regularly train the most important hand movements around childbirth. In just a few months, the old post office rooms on the ground floor of building K5 have been successfully transformed into modern training rooms for the relatively new bachelor's degree program in midwifery. Three flexibly usable rooms have been created from one large room. The multi-functional room can be quickly converted, even the furniture can be moved through the rooms on castors and can thus be adapted to the respective use.
Bachelor's degree program in midwifery at the MHH
Midwifery science has existed internationally for more than 40 years, and the corresponding working group was founded at the MHH as early as 2001. The dual Bachelor's degree program has been available at the MHH since the winter semester 2021/22. The study program lasts three and a half years. The entry requirement for midwifery training is a twelve-year general school education. Students receive an academic degree combined with practical professional training. As a degree, both the license to use the professional title of midwife and a Bachelor's degree are acquired. Each of the seven semesters includes a practical module, which is completed at one of the cooperating practical training centres. In addition to the MHH Women's Clinic, these are the hospitals Diakovere Henriettenstift and Friederikenstift, the Vinzenz Hospital in Hanover, the KRH Hospitals in Gehrden, Großburgwedel and Neustadt, the General Hospital in Celle, the Municipal Hospital in Braunschweig, the Sana Hospital in Hameln-Pyrmont and the Helios Hospital in Hildesheim.