In the compulsory elective module "Transcultural Midwifery and Globalization", the students of the 7th semester of Midwifery Science dealt intensively with the question of how midwifery care can be guaranteed in crisis and disaster situations. In a preparatory simulation game "Midwives in a flood disaster", the students were already able to approach the topic.
On Friday, December 5, the group visited the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) Landesschule Nordrhein-Westfalen in Erftstadt - and gained a unique insight into an innovative care model. The "Midwife Mobile" project was presented to them on site: a bus converted into a mobile care room that has been used in the Ahr valley since the flood disaster in 2022 to support pregnant women, women who have recently given birth and newborns. The concept creates a sensitive, low-threshold care space and responds to typical challenges in disaster situations - such as destroyed infrastructure, uncertainty of access or the need of many affected people for a protected place for advice outside their own homes.
As part of a teaching research project, the students had developed a scientific interview guide. During the visit, they conducted qualitative interviews with project manager Stefanie Könitz-Goes and midwife Lisa Schütte for the first time in order to explore barriers, opportunities and further development possibilities for mobile care services.
A detailed evaluation of the interviews will take place during the course of the semester. The students will be supervised by Professor Michaela Michel-Schuldt PhD and Mareike Kast.
The project also shows the structural complexity of midwifery care in crises: a lack of organizational structures and data, fluctuating political support, challenges in addressing target groups and the insufficient integration of midwives in disaster control concepts.
A key reminder from the visit:
Even in disaster situations, women and newborns have a right to safe, respectful and continuous obstetric care.
The excursion was financially supported by the Center for Research and Cooperation as part of internal funding for university teaching research projects and strengthened the students' practical insight into innovative care models and the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation and transcultural competence in exceptional situations.
Contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Department of Social and Health Care
Prof. Michaela Michel-Schuldt PhD
Professorship of Midwifery
Tel. 0621/5203-547
Email: michaela.michel-schuldt@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
Mareike Kast, M.A.
Practice Consultant Midwifery Science
Tel. 0621/5203-146
Email: mareike.kast@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
