Course summary

Our new MSc Midwifery offers currently registered adult nurses the ability to undertake a shortened two-year route into practising midwifery. Current workforce data shows that the NHS needs another 2000 midwives to ensure a safe, personalised maternity service and to achieve ambitions set out in the Better Births (2016) publication. The University of Birmingham has responded to support this area of workforce shortage in the NHS by launching this new programme. Applications for October 2024 are now closed, applications for October 2025 will open shortly. Please keep an eye on our website for further information. There will be funding available for up to 300 students per year in England to include salary support and tuition fee contributions up to £9,250 per year as part of the NHS England funding scheme. The University of Birmingham's School of Nursing and Midwifery have 20 of those funded places available. This programme, which has been developed in line with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 2019 Standards for Midwifery, is the ideal opportunity for current registered adult nurses to expand on their existing skills and knowledge, and join the midwifery profession. Being a midwife is highly rewarding but brings responsibility for ensuring that childbirth occurs in a safe and positive environment. At the University of Birmingham, we will provide you with the best possible training opportunities and you will benefit from interprofessional learning opportunities both within the School of Nursing and Midwifery and across the College of Medicine and Health. You will undertake your placements with local maternal health providers, including Birmingham Women's Hospital (one of only two trusts in the UK specialising in women's health care – located next to the University of Birmingham Medical School). Our Masters uses a blended learning model, meaning you will have some of your teaching on campus, and some which can be accessed remotely. Both are supported with enhanced and interactive digital media to develop your knowledge. Remote learning will include scheduled webinars, video lectures and podcasts and a wide range of digital resources and directed activity. On campus teaching will be at the University of Birmingham Medical School and include problem-centred and simulated based learning, and some teaching. Our maternal and neonatal simulation facilities will allow you to develop your clinical skills in a safe environment before using them in practice. A unique aspect of the Birmingham MSc Midwifery will be your allocated virtual case load to assist you in developing skills in providing relationship-based, holistic care, creative and flexible planning, accurate clinical assessment and high-quality decision-making. At Birmingham, we work with a vibrant public engagement in midwifery group who have helped us ensure that the MSc Midwifery programme takes a woman and family centred focus. Our close links with placement partners ensures you will be supported and exposed to a range of specialist placements tailored to your needs. Together, these features will ensure you develop clinical midwifery and research, leadership and management skills which will facilitate your future career journey as a midwife.