It is intended that these Competency Standards for Childbirth and Early Parenting Educators will:

• Assist women and their families to gain better access to high quality, responsive, learner-centred education during pregnancy and the early parenting period;
• Assist educators in identifying their practice development and their learning needs;
• Provide a nationally consistent approach for educator’s competency to be assessed;
• Be dynamic enough to act as a benchmark for assessing competence to practice in a range of settings by the diverse group of professionals working in childbirth and early parenting education;
• Be applicable to novice and expert educators, coordinators and managers of childbirth and early parenting education services.