BMidwif Midwifery / Course details

This unit aims to prepare you for professional midwifery practice and will enable the acquisition of knowledge and skills required for your professional development. The unit will develop your understanding of the importance of evidence as an underpinning determinant of best practice in midwifery and you will be supported to systemically find, review and appraise a variety of evidence sources. Throughout the unit your learning will be applied to the role of the midwife with a specific focus on midwifery continuity of carer. You will learn through a variety of approaches, including taught sessions both face-face and online. This includes lectures, small group work, practical skills-based workshops, podcasts, and access to a range of online resources. Time in practice is allocated to this unit to enable you to apply theoretical concepts to practice and reflect on practical experiences.

The unit aims to:

• Enable learners to develop a practical understanding of the core concepts and skills for professional midwifery practice, academic study, clinical leadership and evidence-based midwifery practice.
• Apply these skills to understand the midwifery model of continuity of carer.

The intended learning outcomes (ILOs) and aims are all constructively aligned to ensure the teaching and assessment methods support the learners’ achievement of these to the highest standard. The assessment ensures that all aims and ILOs can be demonstrated as met during the assessment task and in order to facilitate learners’ understanding of the ILOs the following teaching methods will be used:

Lectures synchronous (live)

Lectures asynchronous (podcasts)

Seminars

Small group work

Practical skills-based workshop

Debate (ethical concepts)

Online resources

Case studies

Directed study

• To demonstrate understanding of professional and ethical midwifery practice, including the need for ongoing reflective practice, self-evaluation, continual professional development and autonomy.
• To develop knowledge and understanding of the role of the midwife and scope of practice across the childbearing continuum.
• To demonstrate an understanding of political, ethical, legal, social and cultural influences on maternity care, and how this impacts on outcomes for service users, midwives, the wider workforce and maternity services.
• To develop knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence-based practice and its value in enhancing midwifery care.

• To optimise use of study skills, problem solving and evidence to address academic and clinical questions, and to facilitate learning.
• To recognise and appraise different sources of evidence and their relative values for midwifery and professional practice.

• To emonstrate developing application of professional, ethical and legal frameworks of midwifery practice ensuring the safety, wellbeing and needs of individuals and their families remains central, demonstrating the ability to escalate concerns to an appropriate individual.
• to demonstrate digital literacy, capability and agility in using relevant, contemporary digital and information technologies to optimise practice.
• To develop skills in carrying out systematic evidence searches.

• To demonstrate professional values, including being kind, trustworthy and respecting individuals’ beliefs and cultural practices.
• To develop a sense of their own potential to make a difference through their professional practice to the wellbeing of pregnant and birthing women and people and their families and to the future development of midwifery.
• To develop skills in evidence-based literature retrieval.
• To support understanding of how evidence underpins and enhances midwifery practice.

Formative

Essay plan submitted and small group feedback workshops with lecturer and peer review.

Indicative Reading List: 

• Aveyard, H. and Sharp, P. (2017). A beginner’s guide to evidence based practice. London: Open University Press.
• Birthrites. (2021). Birthrites: protecting human rights in childbirth. Available at https://www.birthrights.org.uk/ accessed August 2021
• Copnell, B. and McKenna, L. (2018). Fundamentals of nursing and midwifery research:
• A practical guide for evidence-based practice. London; Routledge.
• Cottrell, S. (2017). Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection.
• 3rd edition. London: Macmillan Education/Palgrave.
• Gimenez, J. (2019). Writing for nursing and midwifery students. 3rd edition. London: Red Globe Press.
• Macdonald, S. and Johnson, G. (2017). Mayes' midwifery. 15th edition. London: Elsevier.
• Harvey, M. and Land, L. (2017). Research methods for nurses and midwives: Theory and practice. Los Angeles: SAGE.
• Homer, C., Leap, N., Brodie, P. and Sandall, J. (2019). Midwifery continuity of care.
•  2nd edition. Edinburgh: Elsevier