An evaluative survey to assess the effectiveness of using an interactive workbook to deliver bereavement education to undergraduate student midwives

Background: The NMSF (2009) reported that 74 Trusts (40%) in the UK lack expertise in delivering maternity based bereavement care. In response, 3 midwifery lecturers were issued with a small grant from NHS Scotland to devise and evaluate an interactive workbook intended to develop student midwives understanding of how to deliver high quality bereavement care. Aim: To develop a workbook called - an interactive workbook to shape bereavement care for midwives in clinical practice - and evaluate it for effectiveness at delivering learning objectives developed from the literature and from prior written lesson plans.Method: An evaluative audit was carried out using a scored questionnaire -Understanding Bereavement Evaluation Tool (UBET) - to gather data before and post workbook completion. The UBET was purposely designed to gather data about participants’ perceived level of learning before and post workbook completion. Participants were student midwives (n=179) in their second/third year of study on a 3 year midwifery degree program at one of 3 universities. Findings: The mean pre-workbook UBET score equalled 16.04 (SD = 3.81) and post-intervention 26.45 (SD = 2.16). A significant main effect of observation point was observed (p < 0.001), with post-intervention scores considerably higher than pre-intervention.Discussion: Findings demonstrate that the workbook is an effective method for teaching bereavement care to student midwives (it is available from the first author)