ReviewHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2026
The Future Midwife: A PRISMA Scoping Review of Education, Transition, and Work Readiness Among Midwifery Students.
Review in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
21 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPreparing midwifery graduates to be confident, competent, and resilient is essential for workforce sustainability, yet students report a disconnect between academic preparation and clinical realities. Increasing care complexity, workforce shortages, and variable clinical learning environments globally highlight the need to examine how educational strategies support effective transition to practice.
objectiveTo map and synthesise the evidence regarding educational approaches, learning experiences, and transition-to-practice factors that influence preparedness for professional practice among midwifery students, and to identify gaps in the existing literature to inform a coherent and future-ready educational framework.
methodsA PRISMA-ScR-guided scoping review was conducted across seven databases. Data were extracted through a standardised template and analysed using narrative synthesis. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies were examined for learning approaches, practice conditions, and transition experiences.
resultsThree overarching domains and seven sub-domains were identified. Reflective practice, blended learning, simulation, and collaborative approaches were widely valued but inconsistently implemented. Students frequently experienced transition shock, limited scaffolding of higher-order thinking, variable supervision, with misalignment between curricula, competency frameworks, and clinical expectations, leading to uneven confidence and skill development. Educator capacity constraints particularly in feedback, reflection, and simulation pedagogy were recurrent barriers. Positive clinical environments and structured reflective opportunities consistently strengthened competence, identity formation, and readiness.
conclusionMidwifery education is evolving towards contemporary, competency-based pedagogies, yet persistent inconsistencies undermine the reliability of graduate preparation. Strengthening curriculum coherence, standardising key learning experiences, investing in educator capability, and embedding structured reflection and simulation are essential. A unified educational framework that integrates these components is required to enable confident, adaptable, and practice-ready midwives.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.