Background:
Development of professional identity in order to provide high-quality midwifery care has been highlighted internationally¹ and should be incorporated into contemporary curricula².

Rationale for practice:
Educators are expected to design learning activities that enable midwifery students to link specific knowledge and skills to personal beliefs and their influence on practice³.

Description of application:
First year midwifery students were introduced to midwifery philosophy at the beginning of a module concerned with clinical aspects of care during normal labour. Three seminars were designed for further exploration. Students used creative methods to produce representations of their understanding of individual professional identity. Descriptions and discussions on the perceived value of the experience and findings were part of the final assessment.

Impact:
Reflection on professional identity via designated seminars and formalizing the results at the end of the module enabled students to - engage with midwifery philosophy parallel to acquiring clinical knowledge and skills; - identify specific actions and behaviours which reflect their professional identity; - describe the perceived impacts of their professional identity on the care given to women.

Discussion:
Students expressed awareness of the continuous process involved in professional identity development and intended to follow up on preliminary findings. As reported elsewhere⁴, challenges to accommodate additional content without compromising clinical knowledge in the given module were identified. Digital formats might offer solutions⁵. Examples and research with respect to digital formats to facilitate professional identity development among midwifery students are warranted.