Course summary

This MSc programme provides students, who are already registered Adult Nurses (with the NMC) and have a relevant degree, with the opportunity to study Midwifery at Masters level. This programme will equip students with the knowledge, skills, interpersonal and cultural competence required to positively contribute to the health of childbearing women and their families, through individualised midwifery care, promoting continuity of care, personalisation and choice. On completion, students will achieve an MSc Midwifery (Shortened), and will also be eligible to register as Midwives with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Each year of this two-year programme includes 45 weeks of learning, with 50% of this time spent on clinical placement. This blended learning degree is suited to students who are self-motivated and able to study independently online, accessing engaging digital learning materials for the theoretical element, with regular support from tutors in local areas. Learning materials are prepared by a dedicated team of midwifery lecturers and associate professors based at the University of Plymouth, and students will be linked with a local tutor from this team. Each week, students will also undertake integrated clinical placements in one of the maternity units across the South West of England, where practice supervisors support students to learn and progress to achieve the required NMC standards of proficiency for midwives. The first year of the programme includes an individual learning needs assessment, with development of essential midwifery knowledge and skills, and will extend students’ understanding and application of theory and research to all areas of midwifery practice. The second year will include a research or practice development project, and enable students to develop the ability to support women with more complex needs through pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period (including the newborn and infant physical examination – NIPE). Students qualifying as midwives following completion of the MSc Midwifery (Shortened) at the University of Plymouth go on to practice as autonomous practitioners across the UK, with the potential to practice midwifery almost anywhere in the world. The programme will also equip graduates for further educational development at PhD level if they wish.