ESW 2024: Year in review
April 8, 2025
Midwives are required to have specialized skills and training to handle emergencies that occur in both community and hospital settings. The AOM’s Emergency Skills Workshop (ESW) is a comprehensive, high-quality, College of Midwives of Ontario–certified course, designed and taught by midwives, for midwives.
The ESW program had a busy year in 2024! In November, the AOM released the 8th edition of the Emergency Skills Workshop manual. Updates include:
- new content on equity and racial justice in emergency perinatal care, as well as delayed cord clamping and bedside resuscitation
- significant revisions to the postpartum hemorrhage and anaphylaxis chapters
- inclusion of unplanned breech in the upright position
- and more!
The management of unplanned breech in the upright position is a new skill that was introduced in the 8th ed. of the ESW manual. A lengthy process including a Delphi study and consultation with many breech experts was taken by the AOM to develop this content. After the release of the 8th ed. manual, all ESW instructors participated in upright breech trainings to prepare to teach this new skill set to all midwives at their ESW recertifications.
The 8th edition manual has been made available to all AOM midwife members (login required), along with a summary of changes to each chapter. Midwives no longer need to wait until their next recertification to access this updated content.
In 2024, the AOM coordinated 130 ESW events across Ontario, with ESW PRN being incredibly popular for both instructors and participants. Through ESW PRN, midwives can arrange an ESW workshop directly with an instructor, at a convenient date and location. A total of 122 PRN events occurred in 2024 including several PRNs in northern, rural and remote locations. The feedback from midwives was very positive, with many remarking on how much more accessible ESW is and how happy they are to stay in their community to recertify. Check out the ESW 2024 Year in Review visual summary for a snapshot of 2024 ESW achievements.
The ESW program reaches across Canada. In 2024, 188 midwives from other provinces and territories accessed ESW materials in English and an additional 83 midwives accessed them in French. 84 Canadian students, including Ontario MEP students, learned emergency skills using the AOM’s ESW program.
The AOM is also proud of our emergency skills program adaptations, which include the popular Paramedic Emergency Skills Program (PESP), recently updated in 2023, and ESW Connect, a course to support collaboration and knowledge exchange between midwives and interprofessional colleagues (such as nurses and physicians) in northern, rural and/or remote communities. Both adaptations meet a need for specialized emergency skills training in out-of-hospital and low resource settings, showcasing knowledge and expertise unique to midwifery.
The AOM is committed to providing the most comprehensive and high-quality emergency skills workshop by continuing to work towards a current, relevant, equitable and sustainable ESW program.
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