Midwifery

Considering becoming a midwife? Our midwifery degree provides specialist vocational training and learner support for you to become a fully qualified midwife.

You will become skilled in midwifery, learning how to provide compassionate care to birthing parents, newborns and their families during this significant period in their lives.

What’s more, our midwifery courses are ranked 1st in the North West for students satisfied with assessment and 2nd in the North West for students satisfied with teaching (Guardian University Guide 2023 Results). With Nursing and Midwifery Council accreditation, you’ll be ready for employment straight after graduation.

Course Overview
You’ll spend 50% of your time in practice, equating to 2,300 hours of practice learning over three years. You will work with highly skilled professionals to train as a midwife, supporting birthing parents and their families to access healthcare while boosting your skills and confidence.

Throughout this degree, you will experience midwifery care in all settings, working with continuity of care teams, on consultant-led units, birth centres, and within the community. Alongside this, you will experience bespoke placements in neonatal units, theatres, and medical and surgical wards.

NHS placements are available with North Cumbria Integrated Care (Carlisle, Whitehaven and Penrith), University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (Lancaster, Barrow and Kendal), Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals (Preston and Chorley), as well as in the surrounding community areas. Places are limited for Blackpool and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, and priority will be given to students who live close to these areas.

In addition, elective placement weeks are built into each year of the midwifery degree where you can take the opportunity to experience midwifery practice elsewhere in the country. The placements aim to ensure you experience all care settings. You will also have the opportunity to take an elective placement abroad.

Theory is delivered by expert teaching staff and is based on the latest evidence and research, using modern teaching methods and technology.

On this course you'll...

• Study and train to be a midwife, boosting your academic and clinical skills with practical sessions in our state-of-the-art clinical simulation facilities.

• Be closely supported by passionate lecturers who bring invaluable experience to teaching and provide excellent pastoral support alongside your midwife training.

• Benefit from exciting, diverse placements providing you with experience of a variety of healthcare systems across inner-city and rural areas, widening your midwifery experience and learning.

• Apply midwifery theory to real-life midwifery care in practice, so that you are confident and competent in supporting birthing parents and their families through pregnancy, birth and postnatal period.

• Become eligible to register as a midwife with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). You'll be recognised as a safe and competent midwife ready for employment.

What you'll learn
This programme will fully prepare you for your future as a midwife, in line with the NMC standards of proficiency for midwives. You will study the important values highlighted in the NHS Constitution (2015), such as treating people with respect, dignity and compassion, and getting the basics right every time by putting birthing parents and their families first.

Modules are designed to become progressively challenging at each level using learning and achievement from earlier levels as a foundation. Continuity of care and carer is linked to improved health outcomes for the birth parent and baby. Midwives are the first point of contact for the birth parent and the lead health professional in maternity services playing a crucial role in coordinating and navigating maternity care, requiring essential leadership skills.

This programme will fully prepare you for your future as a midwife, in line with the NMC standards of proficiency for midwives. You will study the important values highlighted in the NHS Constitution (2015), such as treating people with respect, dignity and compassion, and getting the basics right every time by putting birthing parents and their families first.

Modules are designed to become progressively challenging at each level using learning and achievement from earlier levels as a foundation. Continuity of care and carer is linked to improved health outcomes for the birth parent and baby. Midwives are the first point of contact for the birth parent and the lead health professional in maternity services playing a crucial role in coordinating and navigating maternity care, requiring essential leadership skills.

You will explore infant feeding, as mapped against the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative Standards.

Year one

• Midwifery Practice 1
  Develop fundamental midwifery skills, professionalism and knowledge.
• Universal Care 1
  Explore principles of universal care for all the birthing parent, newborns and families, and the underpinning anatomy and physiology related to the childbearing continuum.
• The Midwife as Professional 1
  Develop professional knowledge in relation to legal, ethical and regulatory frameworks, and to understand effective communication strategies.
• The Midwife as Scholar 1
  Gain an understanding of the academic skills required to support evidence-based practice and continuous professional development.
• Additional Care 1
  Develop an understanding of pre-existing physical and mental health conditions and situations experienced by the birthing parent, and conditions and complications arising in pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period.

Year two

• Midwifery Practice 2
  Further midwifery skills, knowledge and professionalism.
• Universal Care 2
  Apply knowledge in relation to the principles of universal care for all birthing parents, newborns and families.
• The Midwife as Professional 2
  Introduction of midwifery knowledge and skills in advocacy, leadership, accountability and collaboration, working towards autonomous professional practise.
• The Midwife as Scholar 2
  Further analyse a variety of research and relate it to midwifery practice, to provide evidence-based care for birthing parents, newborns and their families.
• Additional Care 2
  Develop skills and knowledge required to manage childbirth emergencies, including situational awareness and advanced communication.
• Part 2 Practice Assessment

Year three

• Midwifery Practice 3
  Mandatory core skills training for year three, including basic life support, personal safety, and manual handling.
• Physical Assessment and Management of the Newborn
  Explore the effects of pregnancy complications on fetal development and newborn well-being.
• The Midwife as Scholar 3
  Research proposal process including literature review, research design, methodology, rigour in research, evaluation and dissemination of results.
• Midwife as Professional 3
  Content of this module will be led by your independent learning around the chosen topic in relation to module outcomes.

A range of assessment methods has been selected to enhance your learning and to help you to demonstrate how you have achieved all the module and programme learning outcomes and aims.

Formative and summative assessments are utilised to enable you to progress and build knowledge for practice coherently and logistically. Formative assessments are designed so that feedback on your performance is provided before the final, summative assessment – though this does not contribute to the final module mark or the credit awarded.

Summative assessment in modules utilises authentic assessment methods focusing on you using and applying knowledge and skills in real-life settings. Authentic assessment will help you to contextualise your learning and to see how real-life conditions or situations, in all their unpredictability, ambiguity and complexity, affects your theoretical knowledge.

You have the opportunity across the programme to reflect on your progression and development. These personal reflections contribute to and are evidenced in assessments through a variety of means.

Types and methods of assessment will include professional discussions, written assignments, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE’s), presentations, portfolio and dissertation. Authentic assessment methods are utilised to provide effective feedback and feedforward recommendations to enable your success.