Competency Goals in Midwifery Master’s Programs in Germany and Selected OECD Countries: Comparison of Stakeholder Perspectives

Background: The increasing complexity of midwifery practice highlights the need for clearly defined competency goals in Master’s programs. Although international frameworks describe competency domains at the Master’s level, evidence on stakeholder prioritization remains limited, warranting an exploratory investigation. This international cross-sectional study examined stakeholders’ perceptions of the relevance of competency goals in midwifery Master’s programs across 19 selected OECD countries, with a predominance of respondents from Germany. Methods: N = 120 stakeholders rated 19 competency facets across three domains (general, advanced midwifery practice, and midwifery educator competencies) using a psychometrically validated 60-item questionnaire. A mixed-design MANOVA examined effects of profession (midwives vs. related professions), function (educators vs. applying professionals), and competency facets. Results: A significant within-subject effect across competency facets was identified (Pillai’s Trace = 0.492, p < 0.001). No significant main effects for profession (Pillai’s Trace = 0.012, p = 0.239) or function (Pillai’s Trace = 0.008, p = 0.325) were found, nor were significant interaction effects (Pillai’s Trace = 0.174, p = 0.311) observed. Conclusions: Given the exploratory design and the predominance of German participants, these findings provide a basis for future discussion on competency frameworks for midwifery Master’s programs. Clearly defined competency goals support the midwifery professionalization, quality of practice and the integration of advanced roles into complex care settings.