BSc Midwifery (Hons)

Program Overview

This three-year midwifery degree prepares students for NMC registration and a career in midwifery. It combines theory with hands-on experience through clinical placements at NHS maternity units. Graduates gain the knowledge and skills to deliver evidence-based care for women, babies, and families. The program is recognized for its excellence with a Gold Award accreditation from UNICEF's Baby Friendly Initiative.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

This exciting degree in midwifery has been developed against the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards of Proficiency for Midwives (2019) and has been developed to equip you, as part of the next generation of midwives, with the knowledge, skills and values to deliver world class, evidence-based care for women, babies and their families. As a mark of our professional excellence, we hold the prestigious Gold Award accreditation by UNICEF’s Baby Friendly Initiative. As you will spend an equal amount of time studying theory and gaining hands-on experience in clinical practice, you should choose a course location that you can travel to easily. Our contemporary approach to teaching and learning includes a wide variety of online, classroom and simulation-based activities as well as clinical placements at an NHS Trust maternity unit.

Outline:

The duration of this midwifery course is three years and has been developed with input from students, service users and our NHS partners to provide you with the academic and professional qualifications you need to be eligible to register with the NMC as a midwife. Throughout the course, there is strong emphasis on childbirth as a normal physiological process and you will gain a sound understanding of the role of the midwife and the foundations of midwifery care. As you progress through the course, you will develop and apply your knowledge to a variety of contexts. You will spend an equal amount of time in blocks of theory and clinical practice. The theoretical element of the course is delivered through an exciting range of teaching and learning approaches; including online and face-to-face lectures, group tutorials, one-to-one learning opportunities, classroom activities, practical skills, simulation-based learning, online and guided independent study. You will keep an online portfolio to record and track your progress throughout the course.

Year 1:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Personal Health and Wellbeing for the Student Midwife
• Fundamentals of Midwifery Care
• Public Health and the Midwife
• Accountability and Professional Midwifery Practice
• Foundations of Evidence for Midwifery Practice
• Midwifery Practice 1

Year 2:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Developing Self as a Midwife
• Safe Care for Childbearing Women and Newborn Infants with Complications
• Holistic Care for Women and Families
• Applying Evidence to Midwifery Practice
• Leading and Managing Childbirth Emergencies
• Midwifery Practice 2

Year 3:

• Compulsory Modules:
• Midwifery Assessment and Response to Deteriorating Health
• Individualised Care for Women and Newborn Infants with Complex Needs
• From Student to Midwife
• Evaluating Quality in Maternity Care
• Autonomous Midwife
• Midwifery Practice 3

Assessment:

The course has a range of assessments including: continuous assessment, online and face-to-face lectures, group tutorials, one-to-one learning opportunities, classroom activities, practical skills, simulation-based learning, online and guided independent study. Students will be assessed in a range of placements as part of a continuous assessment process. The NMC requires all students to have a minimum of 2,300 hours of practice experience over the 3 years to be eligible to register as a midwife. You will have 22 planned practice placement weeks each year to meet this requirement.

Teaching:

The University's learning platform, UWLFlex, has been developed to provide you with a personalised and supported learning experience. Most of our graduates go on to work with the NHS Trust where they worked on placement or with another prominent NHS Trust. As a qualified midwife you could work in a range of settings, including:

• within the community
• in a hospital
• as part of a case loading team
• in the private sector.
You could also continue your studies at UWL to enhance your clinical knowledge and skills in a specialist area. Midwifery course placement partners:
• The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Northwick Park Hospital (London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust)
• Queen Charlotte's Hospital and St Mary's Hospital (both maternity units are part of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Maternity Services) (April intake only)
• West Middlesex University Hospital (part of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust).

The fee above is the cost per year of your course. If your course runs for two years or more, you will need to pay the fee for each academic year at the start of that year. If your course runs for less than two years, the cost above is for your full course and you will need to pay the full fee upfront. Government regulation does affect tuition fees and the fees listed for courses starting in the 2025/26 academic year are subject to change.