The educational program is based on the following beliefs and goals:

WE BELIEVE...
that midwifery has the potential to be one of the most important components of women's health care in Ontario. Midwives' expertise in the care of normal pregnancy and childbirth arises from their understanding of childbearing as a social, cultural and biological process and from their ability to competently exercise clinical skills and decision-making. Midwifery education must provide the base for sound professional practice.

WE BELIEVE...
that midwives are the best persons to teach the professional practice of midwifery but WE BELIEVE that the educational program has a special responsibility to foster partnerships between midwives and other health care providers for the benefit of students and women who seek midwifery care.

WE BELIEVE...
the educational program is an integral part of the evolution of the profession of midwifery in Ontario and Canada. The program must help create future leaders and teachers. It must establish practice and teaching as a continuum so that learning environments become available across Ontario.

WE BELIEVE...
the educational program will best assure the acquisition of knowledge, skills and values, and foster critical thinking if the academic setting is respectful of students, is committed to scholarly enquiry and emphasizes the lifelong ability to learn and change.

WE BELIEVE...
that accessible education which is both flexible and culturally sensitive, requires high quality distance education.

WE BELIEVE...
that the collaborative model of program development and management described herein provides both a reflection of and a model for professional practice in the field of midwifery.