Top ten tips: What it takes to thrive and survive together as Midwives and Midwifery Educators in 2022

The president of the International Confederation of Midwives, Franka Cadee’s in 2019 made this statement on May 5th, International Midwives’ Day. “Midwives need access to quality and complementary training in order to optimise their lifesaving potential and ensure a high standard of maternal care globally”. Ebert et al. in 2019, published their findings that explored midwives and nurses’ transition from undertaking a clinical educator role to that of an academic. The three main themes that emerged from this appreciative enquiry research were, ‘having connections, feeling safe and feeling valued’. To support individual midwife’s professional development goals, to enable succession planning, a robust consideration of what is it that attracts midwives to make the leap from practice in the first place to become a midwifery educator and academic is required. Along with what sustains and retains them in their chosen education role as we all work ‘together at the top’, with an eye to the future to strengthen midwives, midwifery, and the profession in Australia. The findings from recent interviews with a small group of academic’s exploring what lead them into midwifery education and what sustains them in their role will be shared. In summary, the presentation will consider the delights, enablers, challenges, barriers, and potential achievable solutions for midwifery educators to thrive and more than survive, building upon a critical review of literature, findings from recent interviews and the personal varied experiences of the presenter, over a 26-year period as a midwifery educator and academic in both New Zealand and Australia.