| Summary: | D.Cur. === The midwife is the pivot around whom training activities in midwifery revolve. Her knowledge and skill form an inseparable part of the effectiveness of her practice. The external and internal environment of the midwife play a vital role regarding the demands placed upon her. The internal and external environment of the midwife is dynamic, and change continually. The external environment in the past ten years has undergone marked changes: health policy has changed; legal-ethical changes have occurred; the roles of the private sector and fee-for-service practitioners have changed; a new government with other objectives has placed the emphasis on new needs at professional and lay levels. These changes place new demands on the midwife's practice. Because the internal and external environments are in interaction, changes in the internal environment are continually being made, for example the knowledge and competency required by the midwife must continuously be improved so that she can comply with the new demands in her practice. The training of the midwife ought to be such that she is adequately equipped to fulfil the demands set by practice. The goal of this study is: an exploration and description of the knowledge and skill required by the midwife to be able to accept her responsibility in the new health care service of South Africa and set guidelines for the basic training of midwife who is to function independently.
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