Midwifery education, regulation and association in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – current state and challenges

Figures & data

Table 1. Examples of the data analysis process from meaning unit to category

FGD	Meaning unit translated from French to English	Code	Subcategory	Category
FGD 1	The 12-months conversion programme needs to be extended to 18 months, and it also need to be at a higher academic level.	A longer conversion Midwifery education programme is needed to be at right academic level	Low academic level and insufficient length of the midwifery education programmes	Education
FGD 2	The new midwifery conversion programme builds on the ICM criteria which gives us prerequisites to promote maternal and newborn health, but we need the education to be 18 months to fully follow the ICM standards	The conversion programme needs to be 18 months to fulfil the ICM standards
FGD 1	Some of the clinical preceptors have too low midwifery qualification. This is a problem when educating the midwifery students.	Lack of academic qualification in midwifery preceptors	Lack of qualified midwifery educators and clinical preceptors
FGD 2	To secure the midwifery profession is autonomous, we need qualified midwifery educators at a PhD level. There are no midwives in DRC with a PhD degree, and we have no professors who are midwives.	No midwifery educators with a PhD level
FGD 3	I want to stress the lack of competence that the midwifery educators have. We lack educators who are midwives, with a higher academic qualification.	Lack of academic qualification in midwifery educators