Key components of developing midwifery preceptors: a pathway to strengthen midwifery education and care in low resource settings

Strengthening midwifery education and the quality of midwifery care is one of the most impactful interventions to address maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. In this perspective, we describe nine key components that make for an effective preceptor program that should be kept to ensure high fidelity and to support quality outcomes. A preceptor is an experienced healthcare provider who mentors students through structured experiences in the clinical setting to gain experience and apply their knowledge and skills in a supervised setting. For each of the nine key components, we delve into examples from a novel yearlong low-dose, high-frequency cohort preceptor program we developed to educate practicing midwives to become competent and confident preceptors of midwifery students in Sierra Leone. These nine key components include time, low cost, low-dose high frequency format, quality over quantity in cohorts, having a clinical component, partnership buy-in, ensuring an enabling learning environment and facilitators who can model ideal preceptor behavior, the ability to obtain accreditation for long-term sustainability, and leadership. Using these key components in other midwifery-led interventions may also prove beneficial. Finally, building in sustainability and having continuous measurement built into a program are also essential and should be considered when developing a new model of care or intervention. Ensuring midwives are equipped with quality education and prepared to provide quality care is essential to improving maternal health services for vulnerable populations globally.