Ten Years of Midwifery
In 1997, as part of a regional initiative, Bournemouth University won the first contract to provide pre-registration midwifery education throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight - 10 years later we are still going strong.
Our stimulating education programme is delivered at St. Marys Hospital in Portsmouth and students have the opportunity to gain clinical experience in one of our linked practice sites at Basingstoke, Portsmouth or the Isle of Wight.
The first cohort of 30 student midwives joined us in 1998. Since those first beginnings, nearly 400 student midwives have entered the three year programme in Portsmouth, and 200 have graduated from Bournemouth University with their professional registration. All have gone on to pursue careers as midwives either within the NHS, in independent practice or with voluntary services overseas (VSO).
The last ten years have been both exciting and challenging. Working closely with our service partners in the NHS, we have delivered an innovative, high quality programme that has been commended by the Strategic Health Authority, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Quality Assurance Agency in their major review of NHS funded healthcare programmes.
Bournemouth Universitys branch campus in Portsmouth has been responsible for providing a large majority of midwives in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight over the last ten years and there is no doubt that we have made a significant contribution to the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies in the area. Professor Paul Lewis, the Associate Dean for Midwifery, Rehabilitation and Health Sciences says that the Portsmouth based midwifery programme has gone from strength to strength and that he and his team, appreciate the excellent support and input from midwives and managers within the Health Service, who alongside the midwife teachers, ensure that we produce the kind of midwives who are fit for practice and fit for purpose in the 21st Century.
