Overview:
Midwives are central to the provision of safe, respectful, and holistic maternity care. However, women with disabilities—and women who give birth to a child with a disability—often encounter stigma, inadequate support, and systemic barriers throughout the perinatal journey. These disparities are exacerbated by gaps in midwifery education, where disability-related content is frequently limited, optional, or theoretical.

Aims and Objectives:
To explore how midwifery education and training can better prepare practitioners to provide inclusive, competent, and compassionate care for women with disabilities and mothers of children born with disabilities.

Methods:
A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. Six databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Web of Science) were searched for studies published between 2000 and 2024. Eligible studies included those evaluating pre-registration or continuing professional development (CPD) initiatives aimed at enhancing midwives’ knowledge, skills, or attitudes in caring for women with disabilities or those navigating disability within their families. A thematic synthesis was conducted, and quality was appraised using CASP and JBI tools.

Results:
Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. Training programs were highly variable in scope and depth. Most focused on raising general awareness rather than building practical skills. However, impactful models shared common features: Co-design with people with lived experience Simulation and scenario-based learning Emphasis on communication, empathy, and ethical reflection Integration of disability content across the full maternity care continuum Few programs address the emotional and psychosocial needs of mothers whose babies are diagnosed with a disability. Long-term evaluation and formal curricular integration were often lacking.

Conclusion:
Midwifery education must move beyond awareness to embed disability competence as a core professional skill. Training should reflect the diversity of disability experiences, challenge stigma, and prepare midwives to provide emotionally intelligent, rights-based care. This includes not only supporting women with disabilities but also equipping midwives to respond sensitively when a child is born with a disability—an area often overlooked in current curricula. Disability-inclusive training should be experiential, co-produced, and interwoven across theory and practice placements. By reimagining how we educate midwives, we can foster a more inclusive, equitable, and responsive maternity care system.