Course Purpose and Overview

In SOSC 1010 or SOSC 150, Cultural Competency in Midwifery Care: Understanding Difference, Power, & Privilege—you were introduced to the foundational concepts of cultural humility in midwifery care, and engaged in critical learning about how difference, power, and privilege intersect to produce documented disparities in perinatal and infant health outcomes and practices in North America. You began by exploring systems of privilege and oppression among intersecting cultural identities, then moved into the manifestations of systematic oppression in perinatal health for marginalized communities, and ended by engaging tools and exemplary models for enacting cultural humility and health equity during care and in our midwifery profession. Now, in SOSC 2010—Cultural Safety in Midwifery Practice—you will draw upon the foundation you built in SOSC 1010 as you dive further into exploring varying cultural identities as well as systematic oppression within midwifery, with the ultimate goal of enacting cultural safety as a Midwife of Excellence. In Cultural Safety: What Does It Mean for our Work Practice, Robyn Williams describes cultural safety as: “…more or less - an environment, which is safe for people; where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, of who they are and what, they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience, of learning together with dignity, and truly listening” (Williams, 1998). In SOSC 2050: Cultural Safety in Midwifery Practice we will continue to explore the disparities in maternal and infant mortality for marginalized populations. We will blend together the lived experience of individuals with evidence-informed practices to discover how to best serve our clients. We will use the guiding principles of this course to inform our learning. We will continue to uncover our biases and learn how to respectfully engage without othering. We will explore systemic oppression in midwifery politics and policies. We will ask ourselves: what can we do to create a safe and affirming world for our clients?

Midwives College of Utah. (2022). SOSC 2010: Cultural safety in midwifery care. Midwives College of Utah Midwifing Midwives, 4-5. https://midwifery.instructure.com/courses/3191/assignments/syllabus