Dr Josephine Attard and Dr Georgette Spiteri, two academics and midwives from the Department of Midwifery, University of Malta participated in the 7th European Midwives Association (EMA) Education Conference, which was held in Athens between 26 - 29 October 2023. The title of this conference was "Midwifery Education in the Future." Many of the workshops at this conference centred around novel ways of teaching and simulation together with contemporary issues relating to midwifery curricula.
The European Midwives Association is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation of midwives, representing midwifery organisations and associations from the member states of the European Union, members of the Council of Europe, the European Economic Area and EU applicant countries. The EMA aims to provide a forum for European midwives to meet and discuss issues concerning midwifery and women’s health.
Dr Attard and Dr Spiteri participated in a policy workshop together with 26 other European country midwifery representatives. During the 8-hour workshop, discussions about the EU directive on competencies and professionalisation to empower midwives and indeed women all over the world, and to improve public health and global health were had. The focus was on identifying key topics and formulating draft resolutions to present to the European Parliament members, namely Frances Fitzgerald, Ireland, Maria Angela Danzi, Italy, Catharina Rinzema, The Netherlands, Monica Benova, Slovakia, Eliza Vozemberg and Elena Kountoura, Greece.
A historic consensus was reached and three resolutions focusing on professional autonomy, quality of care and safety, freedom of movement, workforce mobility, and the cross-border healthcare directive, protecting the rights of midwives and women were presented.
