1st Edition

Global Midwifery Mentorship Building Capacity Through Connection

Edited By Elaine Jefford, Lyn Ebert Copyright 2026
428 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

428 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

The book begins by exploring the history of mentoring and its relationship to education and practice. Theories and models of mentorship, education and leadership within the context of midwifery will be discussed, along with the importance of critical thinking and reflection. The editors use the lens of global mentoring to focus on how mentoring in midwifery has developed and been implemented in 15 countries from North and Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia. Each chapter explores regulation, professional accountability, education, leadership and career pathways in the country in question.

This international text draws on the perspectives of Australian mentors, mentees, healthcare organisations and academics to highlight the complexities of mentorship in real work midwifery practice, and includes a chapter discussing how to take cultural considerations into question. The final chapters draw on the previous discussion to make recommendations that will support midwifery to implement and sustain a successful and supportive mentorship program for the next generation of midwives.

In this book, authors often refer to midwives as women to reflect the gendered nature of subordination of midwifery. While most midwives globally are women providing care to women, not all midwives in Mexico or globally identify as women. We acknowledge and celebrate the diverse identities of midwives, as this is the best way to build an environment that guarantees enabling sexual and reproductive care for all people who need midwives. Further, the term First Nations which is used is a collective term that refers to Indigenous Australian and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia. First Nations peoples will refer to themselves by any of these terms and may also identify through language groups. This term is used in acknowledgement that First Nations peoples have the right of self‑determination to identify however they choose to do so.

This book is an invaluable read for midwifery students, educators and practitioners.

List of Contributors

Foreword

Introduction

Elaine Jefford and Lyn Ebert

PART I

Foundations of Mentorship: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives on Education and Leadership in Healthcare

1 History of Midwifery Education and Mentorship

Elaine Jefford

2 Midwifery Education in Healthcare: Theories and Models

Linda Sweet and Jessica Lees

3 Midwifery Leadership in Healthcare: Theories and Models

Alison Weatherstone

PART II

Contextualising Midwifery Mentorship — Attributes, Environments, and Strategic Support

4 Midwifery Mentorship: The Context

Elaine Jefford, Jen Stevens, and Lyn Ebert

5 Midwifery Mentorship: Professional and Personal Attributes

Elaine Jefford

6 Mentoring as a Professional Support Strategy

Lyn Ebert

7 Mentorship as an Inclusive Method for Professional Learning and Development

Riza Kadilar

PART III

Guiding Hands Across Borders: Midwifery Mentorship Around the World

8 Midwifery Mentorship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Maeve O’Connell

9 Midwifery Mentorship in Bangladesh

Jennifer Stevens and Rondi Anderson

10 Midwifery Mentorship in Belgium

Mieke Embo

11 Midwifery Mentorship in Canada

Deepali Y. Upadhyaya

12 Midwifery Mentorship in the United Kingdom

Sam Bassett

13 Midwifery Mentorship in Ireland

Deirdre Daly, Vivienne Brady, and Louise Gallagher

14 Midwifery Mentorship in Japan

Akemi Mochizuki and Yuri Kasamatsu

15 Midwifery Mentorship in Malta

Nicole Borg Cunen and Georgette Spiteri

16 Midwifery Mentorship in Mexico

Akane Sugimoto Storey, Hannah Borboleta, and Yaredh Marín Vázquez

17 Midwifery Mentorship in the Netherlands

Tamar van Haaren-Ten Haken and Marianne Nieuwenhuijze

18 Midwifery Mentoring in Aotearoa New Zealand

Cara Baddington

19 Midwifery Mentorship in Pakistan

Musarrat Rani

20 Midwifery Mentorship in Scotland

Gail Norris

21 Midwife Mentoring in Thailand

Bootsakon S. Guyot, Saisamorn Chaleoykitti, and Daniel K. Guyot

PART IV

Embedding Mentorship in Australian Midwifery — Perspectives, Practice, and Impact

22 Midwifery Mentorship: Australian Cultural Considerations

Stacey Butcher and Linda Deravin

23 Midwifery Mentorship in Australian Curricula

Fiona Arundell

24 Midwifery Mentorship in Practice: An Organisational Perspective

Kelley Lennon and Olivia Tierney

25 Midwifery Mentorship: Mentee Perspective

Virginia Stulz and Nicola Drayton

26 The Role of Supporting Mentorship in Midwifery

Terri Downer

27 Midwifery Mentorship: The Impact on Participating Midwives

Georgie Haver and Lisa Charmer

28 Midwifery Mentoring and Supervision

Annette Briley

PART V

Shaping the Future of Midwifery Mentorship — Global Insights and Strategic Directions

29 Midwifery Mentorship: Future Directions

Lyn Ebert and Elaine Jefford

Index

Biography

Dr Elaine Jefford, midwifery researcher, is an author and editor-in-chief for the International Journal of Childbirth: Women’s and Reproductive Health and employed as a senior midwifery lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast, and is Adjunct Associate Professor at Southern Cross University, Australia. Her research focus is within the field of midwifery decision-making and abdicating one’s professional accountability. This research underpins midwifery education practice and policy, and leadership and mentorship, as the relationship of one or all on midwifery decision-making can impact risk, safety and quality of care provision. A programme of research has led to strong collaborations in national and international research, service development work and practitioner training initiatives. Other research interests include birth trauma, perinatal mental well-being, deteriorating women, childbirth for incarnated women, self-compassion and women’s health such as menopause. She led the validation of the Australian Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised. This scale has been appraised by international opinion leaders and has been endorsed by the International Consortium of Health Outcome Measurement (ICHOM) as the measure of choice to assess ‘birth satisfaction’ worldwide within the ICHOM Standard Set for Pregnancy and Childbirth. She is now leading the Partner-Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (PBSS-R) Australian validation team. She has also been involved in national and international midwifery curriculum development and was a member of the Midwifery Accreditation Committee, which is part of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council. She is also Chair of the Trans-Tasman Midwifery Education Consortium.

Dr Lyn Ebert is a registered nurse and midwife, a women’s health and midwifery education researcher and Associate Professor in Midwifery at the Southern Cross University (SCU). She is the Midwifery Work Integrated Learning Academic Coordinator (WILAC) for SCU. The WILAC role entails managing and administering the work integrated learning (WIL) or Midwifery Professional Experience (MPE) of a programme and ensures academic, clinical and strategic oversight and coordination of the WIL for the programme. She is committed to supporting the development of innovative health education strategies, curriculum teaching and learning methods that support student learning, childbearing women’s safety and improved midwifery workforce culture.