PURPOSE:
The purpose of this presentation is share about the educational method of forum theatre as it is used within a profession midwifery workshop curriculum.

DISCUSSION:
HER Too Theatre is adjunct programme developed to enrich the core curriculum topic of Respectful Maternity Care within a wider established workshop programme known as HER Workshops for Midwives. Respectful Maternity Care continues to be understood as a critical factor in the improvement of maternal mortality rates and, moreover, for the development and sustainability of midwifery itself (reference RMC). Approaches to education and dialogue around Respectful Maternity Care vary, and the use of forum theatre has been shown to provide an innovative and effective approach to the topic. As published in the British Journal of Midwifery (October 2025), HER Too Theatre pilots these methods and provides a potentially transferable approach to challenges in the context of midwifery. As a well-established participatory method forum theatre has been used in the context of community-based programmes which aim to explore and interrogate issues related to the dynamics of power, intrinsic to the challenges of respectful maternity care. This presentation will showcase two plays entitled “A Moment with the Midwife” and “Missed Opportunities” written and performed by a dedicated troupe of midwives and local amateur actors. This will be either through some short filming, a live enactment, or a photo presentation (depending upon the possibility of attendance of colleagues in Lisbon).

EVIDENCE WHERE RELEVANT:
Involve UK Methods: Forum Theatre Available at: https://www.involve.org.uk/resource/forum-theatre Theatre of the Oppressed Wikipedia information Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Oppressed Boal, Augusto; McBride, Charles A. (2014). "Theatre of the Oppressed". The Improvisation Studies Reader: 79–86. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rXY9BAAAQBAJ&dq=augusto+boal+theatre+of+the+oppressed&pg=PA79&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=augusto%20boal%20theatre%20of%20the%20oppressed&f=false

KEY MESSAGE:
The path to A Million More Midwives is reliant upon the upfront consideration of challenges in maternity services and innovation in the way we work forward. HER Too Theatre does just that. Education - curriculum 1