MSc Midwifery Studies
3 years Full Time | January Start

As a midwife you will care for and support women, newborn infants, fathers and families from a diversity of backgrounds and with a broad spectrum of physical, psychological, social, cultural and spiritual needs. It is essential that you have a good understanding of the social context for childbearing and the nature of family diversity in the 21st century. In this module you will study a range of subjects which will support your development as an effective and compassionate practitioner.

The module will introduce epidemiological data on local, national, and international prevalence around health, perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality, to develop your knowledge and understanding. The concept of health will be explored to consider ill health, health inequality and the determinants of health. You will study the principles of public health, including the role of the midwife in promoting health and healthy lifestyle choices, and the different ways that information can be shared with women, partners and families, including the use of information technology and social media. Specific public and family health challenges such as obesity, alcohol, smoking and drug misuse will be explored alongside the impact of childbirth on long term health outcomes for women and neonates.

Your understanding of women’s health, sexuality and sexual health will be developed, so that you recognise their impact of women’s physical and emotional wellbeing, alongside the legal and ethical frameworks which underpin maternity care. You will begin to explore the nature of vulnerability, considering issues such as disability, safeguarding and discrimination, and how these contribute to differing health outcomes. Approaches to inclusive practice will be explored, considering other protected characteristics such as ethnicity, and the role of the midwife in ensuring anti-discriminatory practice. You will be supported to reflect on your personal values and cultural awareness.

This module will introduce you to the theories, models and concepts which underpin the provision of midwifery care. It is a year long module and is aligned to Midwifery Practice 1, to ensure the integration of theory and practice.

You will be introduced to the universal care provided by midwives to women, neonates, partners, fathers and families during the childbirth continuum. This will include principles of holistic assessment and screening, and the role of the midwife in providing information and support, for example about minor disorders and complications, lifestyle changes during pregnancy and the care needs of the newborn. You will learn about the signs and symptoms of pregnancy, how to care for a woman during labour and birth and the midwife’s role in providing care after the birth, including support for infant feeding and maternal/paternal-infant relationship building.

As a midwife you will also care for and support women, newborn infants and their families who require additional care and collaboration with interdisciplinary and multi-agency colleagues, whilst ensuring continuity and coordination of midwifery care. You will be involved in first line assessment and management of social, medical, obstetric, neonatal, and mental health complications. The module therefore introduces you to the range of knowledge and skills required to begin to recognise and care for women and their families with additional needs throughout the childbirth continuum. You will study a range of subjects to facilitate this learning and support your development as a safe and effective practitioner, complementing the provision of universal care.

Physiological adaptations will be explored, including female and male reproductive anatomy and physiology, changes during pregnancy, the process of labour and adaptations following birth. You will study the development of the embryo, fetus and placenta, as well as an overview of body systems, such as the cardiovascular and immune systems, and will be introduced to relevant genetics and genomics. You will begin to develop your knowledge of pathophysiology alongside this core knowledge, whilst considering how the midwife can optimise normal physiological processes for every woman and family.

Evidence based practice is central to the provision of midwifery care and the module will develop your ability to identify and use appropriate evidence to support your practice. Equally important will be the recognition of the diverse needs of women, partners and fathers, and all topics will be considered with reference to the professional expectations of compassion, respect and inclusivity, as described in The NMC Code and the NMC Future Midwife standards.

This module is the first of your programmed practice learning modules and enables you to gain a strong foundation to develop your clinical knowledge and skills towards becoming a ‘The Midwife as Skilled Practitioner’. This will enable you to support, care and work in partnership with women through all aspects of the childbirth continuum. The emphasis of your learning will be the underpinning theory and clinical skills that are essential for safe and effective midwifery care. To do this you will work alongside clinical midwives to develop your interpersonal skills, to understand professional midwifery practice in the clinical setting, as well as consolidating the clinical skills you simulated within the university setting.

You will experience the 24-hour/seven-day care provision during your clinical practice experiences, enabling you to develop an understanding of women, their babies and family’s needs. You will work in partnership with women (under supervision) to ensure a woman-centred approach to care. Throughout the module, you will have the opportunity to reflect upon your skills and personal development, as an individual and as a group. This will also include planning for placement including preparation for being supervised and assessed.

Safe practice is embedded in the module as you develop knowledge and skills such as infection control, life support, safe moving and handling techniques, and the management of medicines. Using case scenarios and reflection these will be applied to situations from your practice experience which include for example physiological birth, peri- operative care, surgical birth and neonatal care. Discussion will include an introduction to childbirth emergencies. Patient safety, human factors and safeguarding will also be introduced as you begin to consider the wider aspects of healthcare provision and how midwives contribute and communicate within this context. The UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative standards will form an important part of the module too, in relation to infant feeding and early relationship building.

The theory and practice experiences you will encounter in this module will enable you to work towards the required NMC Standards of Proficiency for Midwives. A variety of skills will be taught on this module including venepuncture, safe management of medication (including drug calculations via SafeMedicate), injection techniques, infant feeding including breastfeeding (positioning, attachment and hand expression) and safe artificial feeding, abdominal palpation and fetal heart auscultation, examination of the newborn, vital observations, infection prevention, control and antimicrobial stewardship, and simulation of common labour and birth events. These taught skills enable you to rehearse the technical skill away from clinical learning and care provision so that you can have protected time for considering the theory and physiology that underpins these techniques. Opportunities for peer coaching will be available from across the midwifery programme to enhance learning experiences.

The module will give you a strong foundation in understanding midwifery as a profession and understanding yourself as an aspiring professional. You will learn about the role of the midwife and the scope of midwifery practice, drawing on the history of the profession and exploring the NMC Code and NMC Future Midwife standards, as well as contemporary health and social care policy. Concepts such as consent, informed choice, raising concerns and confidentiality, capability and advocacy will be introduced, within the framework of The NMC Code, human rights, ethical concepts and UK Law. Professional accountability and autonomy will also be explored, alongside consideration of models of midwifery practice and collaborative working.

Reflection on personal values, attitudes and experiences and how these may impact on your developing professional practice and communication skills will be explored. Reflection on professional identity will be key to further exploration of self and the development of effective relationships with women, their families and other professional groups. There will also be exploration of social and other media as a form of communication and how these impact on midwifery practice.

Evidence based practice is central to the professional expectations of midwives. You will increase your understanding of the evidence that supports effective practice via discussion of research methodologies, methods and critical appraisal tools. You will engage with published research to enable application to midwifery practice including consideration of research ethics, consent, and service user involvement. You will consider policies and guidelines and how these are applied and understood by a range of stakeholders, including women and their families.

Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.
• Discussing ethical issues in research, and analysing results.
• Describing bias and limitations of research.