An email survey of midwives knowledge about CytoMegaloVirus (CMV) in Hannover and a skeletal framework for a proposed teaching program

At present there is lack of information about CMV transmission given to midwives, general practitioners, neonatal pediatricians and nurses, with intrauterine transmission having profound consequences in terms of outcomes for the infected neonate. To identify one particular group of midwives knowledge about CMV, the research question surveyed midwives' knowledge of CMV. A quantitative electronic survey was the research method utilized in this study. To assess midwives knowledge about CMV, the first author emailed colleagues in Hannover and was in receipt of 40 completed questionnaires. Results showed that midwives have gaps in their knowledge about CMV and that an educational program is necessary to enlarge their understandings. Given the catastrophic consequences to the neonate of contracting congenital CMV, it is imperative that both health care professionals and women receive the educational message about prevention. In response an education program for lecturers has been proposed, which consists of eleven learning objectives.