談臺灣助產專業及教育之沿革與未來展望

History and Prospect of the Profession and Education of Midwifery in Taiwan

台灣早期婦女生產主要以助產士接生為主，然而經過一連串的社會文化變遷，使得助產士所扮演的角色漸漸被忽視，幾乎成為歷史名詞；相對地，助產教育也因此受到嚴重的影響。從1991年以後台灣助產教育即面臨完全停辦的命運且停頓長達8年之久，當時台灣的助產業已逐漸式微。近年來因為剖腹產率不斷攀升且高於歐美其他國家，加上生產過度醫療化，使得醫療決策單位又重新考量助產士的重要性。因此，於1999年才有助產教育的重現，同時也將其提昇至大學與研究所層級，期盼這影響深遠的教育決策所培育的助產專業人才，對國內生產照護與醫療品質提昇帶來正面的效果，使助產士在台灣現代社會能得到重新定位並可發揮其功能。

Midwife was the main person of women with labor and delivery in early society of Taiwan. After social and cultural vicissitudes, the role of midwife has been ignored by society which further sorely influences midwifery education system. In Taiwan, midwifery education was even stopped in 1991 for eight years. It made midwifery profession go down and become a crisis. In light of the facts that the rate of caesarean section is higher than that in other countries and that labor and delivery is over medicalization, it makes medical agencies reconsider the importance of midwives. Midwifery education restarted and was promoted to undergraduate and graduate levels. We expect that these midwives who have bachelors’ or masters’ degree will promote the quality of labor and delivery care and bring back the prospect of the midwife as it used to be in Taiwan.