BSc (Hons) Midwifery

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What career could be more rewarding than one that helps to bring new life into the world? This course, with an accreditation by the Nursing & Midwifery Council, can teach you to do just that.

With a strong emphasis on women-centred care, the course offers an equal balance of theory and practice. Alongside learning knowledge from highly qualified and experienced practitioners, during compelling units such as antenatal & postnatal care of mother & baby, labour & birth, pathophysiology, and medicines management, you’ll also use our clinical skills rooms to practise your skills in a safe environment, before transitioning into the workplace. There you’ll get to spend 50% of your course time on placements with mothers and their newborn babies.

You can opt to study at either of our coastal campuses – Bournemouth or Portsmouth. As well as mixing with midwifery students, you’ll work closely with other trainee healthcare professionals from different areas of the healthcare system – promoting interprofessional learning, plus communication, leadership, and team working skills, all of which will be essential for gaining employment after you graduate.

New for 2020: All nursing students on courses from September 2020 may be eligible for non-repayable government funding of at least £5,000 a year. Further details on who can access the support will be available in early 2020. Find out more information about the funding in the gov.uk website.

This course received 90% overall satisfaction rating from our final year students in the latest National Student Survey (NSS), so why not book on to an Open Day to come and meet us, or join us on live chat now to find out more?

All statistics shown throughout this page are taken from Unistats, Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE), BU institutional data and Ipsos MORI (National Student Survey) unless otherwise stated.

For September 2020 entry: in order to take advantage of new approaches to learning and teaching we regularly review all of our courses. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has also published new requirements for midwifery education and our course curriculum is being reviewed to align to these. We will update this page in May 2020 to give you full information about what we will be offering once the review process has concluded.

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Key information

Next start date:

September 2020, September 2021

Location:

Bournemouth University, Lansdowne Campus, St Mary's Community Health Campus, Portsmouth

Duration:

3 years, including mandatory placements

Accreditations:

Nursing & Midwifery Council

Required subjects:

A Level: Biology, Chemistry, Human Biology, Physics, Psychology, Sociology. BTEC: Health & Social Care, Health & Social Care (Health Studies)

Entry requirements:

For September 2020 entry: 128 - 144 tariff points to include a minimum of 2 A-levels or equivalent including 32 points in a required subject. BTEC Extended Diploma of DDM in a required subject.

For more information check out our full entry requirements.

International entry requirements:

For September 2020 entry: IELTS (Academic) 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and 7.0 in all other components or equivalent.

For more information check out our international entry requirements.

Accredited by:

Course details

On this course you will be taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This will include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators and technicians.

Contact hours and assessment

Details of the assessment methods and contact hours for each unit of the course can be found in the programme specification.

Download the programme specification (pdf 872kb)

Year 1

Core units

Introduction to Professional Practice: You’ll be introduced to the framework that will guide your practice as a midwife, including the professional, legal and ethical codes of practice. You’ll also start to learn key communication skills.
Antenatal & Postnatal Care of Mother & Baby 1: This unit explores how the body’s systems change during the pregnancy and postnatal periods; focusing on an uncomplicated antenatal and postnatal experience. You’ll also learn how to support infant feeding.
Antenatal & Postnatal Care of Mother & Baby 2: Building on the unit above, you’ll explore more complicated procedures if the mother or baby deviates from the normal antenatal spectrum. This unit also teaches you about postnatal screening for women and their babies.
Labour & Birth: This practical unit explores the role of the midwife in providing holistic care for mothers and their newborn during a normal birth. You’ll also learn the professional and legal dimensions of care during labour and birth.
Health & Wellbeing 1: You’ll be introduced to aspects of wellbeing and health for the mother, infant and/or family. You’ll reflect on services provided to enhance the wellbeing of mothers and babies using experiences from professional practice. You will also begin to learn the evidence based knowledge and skills essential to provide infant feeding support underpinned by the Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI).
Clinical Practice 1: This unit will prepare you for clinical practice, introducing fundamental midwifery skills and underpinning theory and highlighting the role and responsibilities of student midwives.

Year 2

Core units

Pathophysiology: You’ll learn genetics and the pathological and pregnancy-related conditions of mothers and neonatal conditions and the impact they might have on the woman and her family.
Caseloading Practice: This unit will prepare you for caseloading, multidisciplinary working and autonomous woman-centered practice.
Medicines Management: You will develop an understanding of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics underpinning medicine management. You will be required to demonstrate your ability to meet the standards of numeracy required to safely administer medicines medicines.
Health & Wellbeing 2: This unit will enable you to develop awareness of global issues related to the health and wellbeing of mothers and their families, exploring epidemiological trends and psychosocial determinants of health.
Exploring Evidence to Guide Professional Practice: You’ll reflect on how professional practice can be enhanced in accordance with value bases for professional practice across disciplinary boundaries.
Clinical Practice 2: In this unit you will develop your skills and competencies in professional practice through inter-disciplinary working.

Year 3

Core units

Complex Care: This unit will teach you how to assess risk in order to plan and prioritise the care of women and their babies who have complications that may occur in the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal periods.
Health Leadership & Innovation: During this unit you’ll illustrate analytical understanding regarding personal and professional leadership and its transformatory potential in the provision of midwifery care/ services.
Evidencing Practice: You’ll undertake an in-depth analysis and synthesis of the evidence surrounding a chosen topic of professional practice.
Service Improvement Project: This group project will explore a service area of health care where you can enhance the experiences of people using the service.
Clinical Practice 3: In this unit you will enhance your skills enabling you to become a safe, autonomous and competent practitioner eligible for entry on to the professional register.
Midwifery Emergencies: this unit will facilitate your progression towards qualifying as a confident and proficient professional, working within the inter-professional provision of care. You will be able to safely and competently assess general risk and use the best available evidence to provide care for women and their families who have emergency situations that may occur in the antenatal, intra-partum and postnatal periods.

How you will be assessed

You will be assessed by coursework culminating in your final year research project, and you will also undertake group work and written exams. The assessment methods for each unit can be found in the programme specification for your course.

Midwifery is a very practical profession and you will largely be assessed on your skills in practice environments, however you will also undertake written coursework allowing you to reflect on your learning and also group work.

Programme specification

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry.

If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

Placements

The course is designed with blocks of theory and practice throughout the three years. This means you will gain clinical experience in all aspects of midwifery practice.

Placement content

Your first placement will typically be in the community or a birth centre and starts in week seven of the course. Other clinical experience will include neonatal care, gynaecology and theatre and throughout the course you will have the opportunity to organise a number of visits to areas/organisations of interest to you, in relation to public health, such as: Sure Start programmes, National Childbirth Trust, health promotion departments, etc.

If you are based in Bournemouth, your clinical placements will be located in Poole, Bournemouth, Salisbury, Dorchester, Yeovil, Winchester or Hampshire Hospital. For those based in Portsmouth, placement localities are Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight or Winchester Hospital.

What hours do you work?

When on placement you will experience the full 24 hour shift pattern to include 12-13 hour shifts, weekends and night shifts. You will follow the shift pattern of your allocated placement mentor, which means you cannot chose which days you work. Although this does involve some weekend working, it is highly unlikely that you will be working every weekend.

Due to placement availability, the offered place is in the same clinical locality for three years. You will be assigned midwife link tutors who will provide support during both theoretical and practical experience.

Placements and travel costs

Your learning will be based at our Lansdowne Campus or at our Portsmouth sub-campus, while clinical placements will be in a variety of places within Dorset and Somerset, in order to provide the necessary breadth of experience. This will involve some travel, and may require you to find short-term accommodation in order to participate in block placements.

Although your term time address and method of transport are taken into consideration when allocating your placements there is an expectation that all students will have to travel up to 40 miles to reach their placements. Due to the more rural nature of some of the placements you may be required to travel further.

Your placement travel expenses will be reimbursed from the Department of Health and Student Finance England.

Placement localities

Bournemouth
Poole
Salisbury
West Dorset
Yeovil
Winchester/Basingstoke
Portsmouth
Isle of Wight
Dorchester

This course contains a significant amount of placement experience, with this often being undertaken in outlying areas rather than solely in towns/cities. You need to consider this when making your application and be clear about what you will be undertaking.

If your placement locality is to be assigned for the full length of the course, i.e. for Nursing, Midwifery and ODP, you will need to consider the realities of training within that geographical area and be specific about which would be suitable for you – whilst being flexible may in some circumstances increase your chances of success, being unrealistic will lead to problems.

Don't forget to ensure that you take note of the locality you have been assigned when you receive your offer letter and arrange your accommodation accordingly.

Your application

For Midwifery, we are looking for applicants who:

Have a clear understanding of the profession, including insight into the role of the midwife
Are motivated and committed to undertaking the course
Can demonstrate personal skills and qualities relevant to succeeding on the course, including time management and communication skills.

How to apply

What we're looking for

We understand the difficulty in gaining experience within a Midwifery setting, and suggest the following examples of how you may gain insight into the role of a midwife: talking to midwives, talking to women who run support groups relating to breastfeeding, child health, or family care, reading relevant Midwifery journals, for example ‘The Practising Midwife’ and accessing relevant websites, for example the NHS Careers website.

You will need to demonstrate that you currently have the skills to study at a higher education level (please see the Recommended Qualifications section). Evidence of recent study could be via a formal qualification or work-based activities completed in the last three years.

Bournemouth University sets its own academic entry criteria using the Nursing and Midwifery Council minimum entry requirements as a base and there is strong competition for places.

In the healthcare sector IT is now a vital tool for accessing and maintaining client records, accessing literature to client care and conducting clinically-related research. As a student you will receive an introduction to IT near the beginning of your course and you will be provided with computer access and your own email address.

During the course you will be expected to use your developing IT skills to produce assignments, to conduct literature searches, and to use client-related record systems in the clinical setting.

Our courses are built around the NHS constitution values, and when assessing your application we will take these values into consideration:

Working together for patients
Respect and dignity
Commitment to quality of care
Compassion
Improving lives
Everyone counts.

Find out more about the NHS Constitution principles.

IT skills

In the healthcare sector IT is now a vital tool for accessing and maintaining patient records, accessing literature to client care and conducting clinically-related research. As a student you will receive an introduction to IT near the beginning of your course and you will be provided with computer access and your own email address.

During the course you will be expected to use your developing IT skills to produce assignments, to conduct literature searches, and to use client-related record systems in the clinical setting. Following instruction some of your study will be undertaken through web-based learning tools, for example by participating in online discussions.

Selection methods

We select candidates for this course by looking at your application. For that reason, make sure your application really stands out from the crowd, and leave us in no doubt as to why you should be joining BU. We may ask you to provide a portfolio and/or take part in an online interview. You can find some handy hints about filling in your UCAS form on our how to apply web pages.

What to expect at an interview

Firstly, you will be met by a member of the Admissions Team who will register your attendance. The interview session includes an introductory talk, an individual interview and a tour of our facilities when possible. Your individual interview will last approximately 15 minutes - the candidate order of interviewing will be allocated at the time. There are no tests for English or maths.

Additional reference

In addition to the reference on your UCAS form, once we’ve received your application we may contact you to ask for a second reference; depending on the course you’ve applied for, this may be an academic reference, or from an employer or person who knows you in a professional capacity.

Find out more about interviews with the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences

Our offer making process

Our offer-making will typically be based on your most recent qualifications, including any required subjects where applicable. We'll consider all qualifications when assessing your application, although these may not be part of our offer.

If you do not meet the criteria of your original offer, we may still offer you a place. We will review your whole application and consider all academic qualifications (including those not in the offer) to see if you have the academic potential to succeed on the course. If we feel the answer is yes, we will confirm your place.

How we assess your application

We look at individual applications and make a tailored offer based on your potential to succeed on the course considering a range of factors, including your academic achievements, work and other experience, reference and personal statement, and in some cases, your performance at an interview or a portfolio review. Typically, we make an offer at the bottom of the tariff range.

AccessBU gives you the chance to tell us more about you and your life experiences if you haven’t had the same educational opportunities as other applicants. If you are eligible for AccessBU, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS Tariff Points below the published tariff.

When do you find out if you have been successful?

For those who do attend an Applicant Selection Day, your file will be reviewed and a decision will be made on whether to offer you a place on the programme. Only once we have completed all interview days will applicants be selected, and offers will be made through the UCAS system. Decisions are typically made and updated on UCAS by the end of March.

You can find further information about interviews with the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences here.

Our Unconditional Offer Scheme (2020 entry)

Applicants who are predicted to achieve strong academic results will be eligible for BU’s Unconditional Offer Scheme in recognition of their academic performance and potential to succeed at university. You will receive an unconditional offer from BU if you are selected for the scheme - course selection measures and other entry criteria (i.e. required qualifications) apply.

We believe that unconditional offers reduce pressure on applicants who will continue to strive to achieve the best grades possible. Excellent grades become a part of applicants’ CVs and also support eligibility for our Academic Excellence scholarship - if you achieve AAA or above at A-level or equivalent, you’ll be automatically eligible for this award.

Visit our Unconditional Offer Scheme FAQ page

Entry requirements

We use the UCAS Tariff in our entry requirements and will accept a combination of grades and qualifications to meet the overall tariff requirement. You can use the UCAS calculator to see how your qualifications equate to UCAS tariff points.

We have outlined our entry requirements below using the most common qualifications that we consider for this course. If your qualification is not listed, please contact our Future Students Enquiry Team who can advise accordingly. You can also find out more about how we consider your application in our offer-making process section.

For September 2020 entry: 128 - 144 UCAS tariff points including a minimum of two A-levels or equivalent, including 32 points in a required subject. BTEC Extended Diploma: Distinction, Distinction, Merit (DDM) in a required subject.

Required subjects:

A Level: Biology, Chemistry, Human Biology, Physics, Psychology, Sociology
BTEC: Health & Social Care, Health & Social Care (Health Studies)

Excluded subjects: General Studies

Numeracy and Literacy requirement: GCSE English and Mathematics grade 4 (or grade C in the old grading system). We also accept iGCSEs, Key Skills and Functional Skills and other qualifications at Level 2 of the National Qualifications Framework.

A-level and AS levels: 128 - 144 tariff points to include a minimum of 2 A levels or equivalent, including 32 points in a required subject.

Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate – Skills Challenge Certificate: We accept this qualification, but it must be accompanied by an A-level sized qualification to meet the overall UCAS tariff.

Access to HE Diploma: 128 - 144 UCAS tariff points with any combination of graded Distinction, Merit, Pass grades, including 15 level 3 credits in a required subject.

BTEC National:

Extended Diploma: Distinction, Distinction, Merit (128 UCAS tariff points) in a required subject.
Diploma: Accepted as part of the overall tariff.
Foundation Diploma/ 90-credit Diploma: We accept this qualification, but it must be accompanied by an A-level sized qualification to meet the overall UCAS tariff
Extended Certificate/ Subsidiary Diploma: We accept this qualification, but it must be accompanied by an A-level sized qualification to meet the overall UCAS tariff.

Cambridge International Pre-U Diploma: 128 - 144 UCAS tariff points, to include a minimum of 2 Principal Subjects including 36 points in a required subject..

Cambridge Technical:

Extended Diploma: Distinction, Distinction, Merit (128 UCAS tariff points) in a required subject.
Diploma: Accepted as part of the overall tariff.
Subsidiary Diploma: We accept this qualification, but it must be accompanied by an A-level sized qualification to meet the overall UCAS tariff
Introductory Diploma: We accept this qualification, but it must be accompanied by an A-level sized qualification to meet the overall UCAS tariff.

Extended Project Qualification: We accept this qualification, but it must be accompanied by two A-level sized qualifications to meet the overall UCAS tariff.

International Baccalaureate Certificates: 128 - 144 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of two Higher Level certificates.

International Baccalaureate (Diploma): 32 - 34 points including grade H5 in a required subject.

Scottish Highers: 128 - 144 tariff points from a minimum of four Scottish Highers including 32 points in a required subject.

Scottish Advanced Highers: 128 - 144 UCAS tariff points from a minimum of two Scottish Advanced Highers.

Other useful information

Apprenticeships: We recognise the transferable knowledge and skills gained through apprenticeships and welcome applications from students with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship recognised by the Institute for Apprenticeships. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Mature applicants: We recognise that mature applicants may have a wealth of experience rather than formal qualifications, so we’ll consider your application on these merits if included in your application. You’ll need to apply to BU in the usual way through UCAS and you may be invited to an interview to discuss your suitability for the course based on the experience you tell us about in your application.

Deferred entry: We are happy to consider eligible applicants for deferred entry.

Non-academic requirements

Occupational Health (OH) Checks

This course is is physically and mentally demanding and you will need to be mentally and physically able to undertake your chosen course. Places are offered subject to passing an OH check, and this will be carried out at the University Hospital Southampton. Health conditions need to be dealt with on an individual basis e.g. deafness, blindness, eczema (or other dermatological allergic reactions) on exposed areas, epilepsy, back problems, or mental health conditions, eating disorders and other disabilities. These do not automatically exclude you but please ensure that you fully disclose your condition to OH. The University can then consider the recommendations made by OH and whether reasonable adjustments can be made to support you on your chosen course. If you require more guidance please contact us for more information.

You will be required to provide a record of your immunity status or be vaccinated or have the required blood tests. Please see this table for the required immunisations. You may need to ask your GP or current OH department or find your childhood vaccination record for details of your past immunisation records. You should be aware that there may be charges made (for which you will be liable) relating to your gaining the appropriate immunity required prior to starting your training programme.

Refusing Immunisations

The University has an expectation that all students will comply with the vaccination programme. This ensures that you will be able to undertake the wide range of training placements that your course will require. Occasionally some vaccinations are contraindicated in certain medical conditions. OH will advise the University in these cases.The University will consider students on an individual basis. Refusal to have immunisations will result in the student not being allowed to attend practice placement and being withdrawn from the course. There is no opportunity to appeal against the requirements of the immunisation policy.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check (previously known as CRB)

All successful applicants will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barred List check; this will be a condition of offer and will need to be completed prior to commencing the course. Please see the Government website for the most up to date information.

International entry requirements

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our entry requirements for non-UK students' page.

Please see below some examples of the qualifications for entry onto Year 1 for September 2019 and September 2020 entry:

Диплома за средно образование (Bulgarian Diploma of Completed Secondary Education) or Диплома за средно специално образование (Bulgarian Diploma of Completed Secondary Specialised Education). Minimum score of 5.5
Hong Kong HKDSE Diploma with required scores (4,4,5 to 4,5,5. Minimum 4 in English required)
Italian Esame di Stato[AB1] with minimum 80%+
Spanish Curso de Orientaciòn Universitaria (COU) prior to 2009 or if you hold a Titulo De Bachillerato awarded from 2009 onwards with a minimum of 8/10+
USA High School Diploma with minimum GPA 3.25 plus SAT Reasoning (1300) or ACT (26-29). If there is a subject specific requirement SAT Subject (600) or AP (4-4) will be required.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you can understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

For September 2020 entry: IELTS (Academic) 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in writing and 7.0 in all other components or equivalent.

View further information about our English language requirements.

If you do not meet the English language requirement for your degree then why not join our Pre-Sessional English course? Successful completion of our Pre-Sessional English course will meet your English language requirement.

Careers

Working as a midwife is incredibly rewarding and as a graduate from this course you will have a wide range of career opportunities. Our students have an excellent record of gaining positions within NHS Hospitals, Community Trusts and in the private healthcare sector. You don't have to stay in the UK though, as this qualification is recognised widely around the world, allowing you to travel and make a real difference wherever you settle.

94% of our students are in work or further study within six months of graduating, and 100% of students are employed in a professional or managerial position. We have excellent links with service users and service providers, allowing you to build relationships before you finish your course and enhance your employment prospects as a result.

Typical job roles and industries

Further study

Costs and fees

All fees are quoted in pounds sterling and are per year. Your tuition fees will be the same for each year of your course. You can find full information about funding your studies and paying your fees in our pages on funding support for healthcare courses.

Our fees and funding section also includes information about the scholarships and bursaries on offer – including unlimited Academic Excellence Scholarships for UK, EU and International students.

Fees quoted are for tuition only unless stated otherwise, and we’re committed to ensuring there are no hidden extra costs while you’re at university – that’s why we’re clear about what you can expect us to cover, and what your cost of living will be.

No hidden extras

What’s included in your tuition fee?

Your tuition fee covers expenses associated with your course including tuition materials, access to facilities, mandatory field trips and the following:

Professional body accreditation of the course.
Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check.
Occupational Health Services and checks. Please note that you will be charged if you do not attend Occupational Health appointments without giving appropriate notice.
Uniforms
One set of study-related consumables such as a memory stick.
Materials for laboratory and field-based teaching activity.
Support for finding placements (UK or abroad) and/or fieldwork and non-financial support whilst on placement.
A range of student services – advisors, help desks, counsellors, placement support and careers service.
The Library – access to a wide range of electronic resources (databases, e-journals and e-books), print and multimedia collections, subject librarians and study spaces.
IT labs (some open 24/7), wireless network, AV equipment to borrow.
Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) scheme.
Disability and additional learning support.
The BU Language Centre to help you develop/improve foreign or English language skills.
24 hours a day, 365 days a year security team.

Costs of living and other expenses you need to consider

Additional costs

We are committed to offering you value for money and ensuring there are no hidden costs while you are studying with us, therefore we have listed below any additional costs you may incur that are not covered by your tuition fee:

Accommodation and living costs. Please visit our website for more information.
Textbooks, general stationery and other supplies. Our award-winning library is stocked with a large range of textbooks and online resources, free of charge. The Students’ Union shops stock a wide range of stationery supplies on both campuses.
Travel costs to and from the University campus for taught sessions (and occupational health referrals if required). You may be able to claim a contribution towards this from the Faculty. An annual bus pass is included in your rent if you are living in halls of residence/Unilet accommodation
Travel costs to and from your placement which could be based at various locations across the southwest region. Students may claim reimbursement towards travel and accommodation costs from the NHS. Please visit the NHS website for more information.
There may be an additional charge for replacement uniforms.

Repeat units

Funding for midwifery students (new for 2020)

All nursing students on courses from September 2020 may be eligible for a government funding of at least £5,000 a year which you will not need to pay back. The funding will be given to all new and continuing degree-level nursing, midwifery and many allied health students from September 2020.

Students will receive at least £5,000 a year, with up to £3,000 further funding available for eligible students, including for:

specialist disciplines that struggle to recruit, including mental health
an additional childcare allowance, on top of the £1,000 already on offer
areas of the country which have seen a decrease in people accepted on some nursing, midwifery and allied health courses over the past year

This means that some students could be eligible for up to £8,000 per year, with everyone getting at least £5,000. The funding will be available from next year. Further details on who can access the support will be available in early 2020.

Our staff

On this course you will be taught by staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This could include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners and research students, many of whom are actively engaged in research and/or professional practice which is integrated into the teaching of this course. Please note that teaching staff can change.

Dr Alison Taylor – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, Course Leader

Alison has thirty years of clinical experience, working in all aspects of clinical practice. Areas of scholarship include infant feeding and using audio visual data in research and education. She is lead lecturer for infant feeding on a number of health programmes and successfully directed the curriculum so that BU has achieved the UNICEF Baby Friendly Award for University standards for the BSC (Hons) Midwifery programme.

Her PhD explored mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding recorded in video diaries. She is currently midwifery lead for a joint inter-professional newborn feeding clinic at the Anglo-European College of Chiropractic where student midwives and chiropractic interns work together to support breastfeeding mothers and babies.

View Dr Alison Taylor's profile

Dr Catherine Angell – Head of Department, Principal Academic, Lead Midwife for Education

Catherine is proud to have once been a Bournemouth University midwifery student herself. She worked in practice before undertaking her PhD, after which she became a midwifery lecturer and researcher.

She is currently Programme Lead for the Midwifery programmes and teaches a diverse number of subjects across the programme including evidence-based practice, fetal monitoring and aspects of postnatal care. She also co-leads the Faculty’s inter-professional research unit.

Her research interests include education and learning, practice development and infant feeding. She supports a number of PhD students, researching midwifery care and infant health in the UK and in Nepal.

View Dr Catherine Angell's staff profile

Dr Luisa Cescutti-Butler – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Luisa was a nurse (trained in South Africa) prior to undertaking midwifery training in the UK. From that moment on, she never looked back as she loved midwifery. Over the years, she has specialised as a premature baby midwife working to support mothers and their partners to care for their sick newborn babies in neonatal intensive care units.

Her knowledge and expertise is now focused around enhancing student learning around women who become premature mothers and caring for their babies.

She has recently completed her PhD which used a feminist lens to explore women’s experiences of caring for their late preterm babies. Her other interests lie in examination of the newborn which she teaches regularly to midwives and student midwives. Her research interests revolve around women’s experiences, preterm issues, practice development and examination of the newborn.

View Dr Luisa Cescutti-Butler's profile

Dr Juliet Wood – Lecturer in Midwifery

Juliet has a wide variety of clinical experience in hospital, community, midwifery-led and independent team midwifery both in the UK and in South Africa where she also lectured at the University of Cape Town.

She was a lead researcher on a large-scale randomised controlled trial on the management of the third stage of labour and her PhD was a discourse analysis of blood loss in normal childbirth. She is particularly interested in maintaining normality in maternity care, promoting continuity of care and thinking about midwifery from an international perspective.

View Dr Juliet Wood's profile

Michelle Irving – Lecturer Midwifery

Michelle has worked as a lecturer/practitioner at Bournemouth University since 2014. She has worked as an independent midwife for 17 years, working in partnership with women and supporting them in their informed decision-making.

Particular areas of interest for her are facilitating and supporting physiological birth, homebirth, waterbirth and breastfeeding. She is currently undertaking research for a PhD exploring Independent Midwives’ practice.

View Michelle Irving's profile

Susan Mant – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Susan has been a midwife since 1981, practicing mainly in a consultant-led unit, providing low and high care. She is an experienced midwife and teacher and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has been teaching on the undergraduate and post-registration programmes for some years.

She is currently working towards a PhD and her study, a narrative inquiry, aims to explore the experiences of newly qualified Sign-off Midwife Mentors. This links with her teaching role in post-registration education around mentorship. Other interests involve a Masters study exploring clinicians’ experience of the Zavanelli Manoeuvre and an interest in the management of physiological breech birth and pre-eclampsia.

Current research interests revolves around Sign-off Midwife Mentorship (and the experience of newly qualified sign-off midwife mentors).

View Susan Mant's profile

Debbee Houghton – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Debee has been a registered midwife since 1986, mainly working at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital midwifery-led unit from 1992-2004 as a registered midwife and clinical coordinator. Working in a midwife-led unit resulted in a reappraisal of her philosophy of midwifery and consequently she has a keen interest in facilitating normal birth.

During her time at Bournemouth University, she completed her advanced diploma in nursing and her Bsc (Hons) midwifery practice which led her into education and her consequent post as a midwifery lecturer. While at the university, Debee has been involved in numerous units but currently leads on the year two medicine management unit which inspired her to enrol on the Professional Doctorate in October 2013.

The focus of her research is around medicine management in midwifery and the title is ‘An interpretive phenomenological study exploring midwives experiences of medicine management in contemporary UK midwifery practice to enhance safety’. She has now completed her progression transfer and is starting to interview midwives.

The rationale for her doctorate is that there is limited research into midwives and medicines and that, due to the complexity of the childbirth continuum, pharmaceuticals, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and therapeutics are increasingly part of a registered midwives every day practice, therefore midwives need evidence-based knowledge to ensure women’s care is not compromised.

View Debbee Houghton's profile

Denyse King – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Denyse is a registered midwifery lecturer teaching midwifery two days per week, and a registered public health practitioner, working two days per week for her local Public Health Department.

She is currently researching the effectiveness of MaCO as a learning experience from learners ranging from nursery nurses through healthcare students, and qualified professionals such as school nurses, health visitors, midwives and GPs.

View Denyse King's profile

Dr Jane Fry – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Jane has been a practicing midwife for 30 years. The majority of this practice has centred in the community due to a passion for enabling women to experience normal birth and holistic care.

Her scholarship in education is linked with student caseloading and she has lead and assisted with the student caseloading project at Bournemouth University which has attracted national and international interest and has resulted in a number of commissioned publications and conferences. This interest and scholarship is linked to her belief that students can truly learn to appreciate and promote woman-centred care through such an educational initiative, she also regularly caseloads women in her local practice area.

Her scholarship in practice is focused on the provision of woman centred care and promotion of salutogenesis, holism and normality of birth. Her research interests and publication areas of physiological birth and intuition as an authoritative form of knowledge reflect these ideals. Her methodological scholarship is centred in phenomenology.

View Dr Jane Fry's profile

Lesley Milne – Senior Lecturer in Pre-Registration Midwifery

Liz Davey – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

During her time as a staff midwife, Liz's interest in community services became a passion and she took a role as a community midwife within the New Forest area in 1987.

Here, her focus on normality and continuity enabled women to be cared for throughout antenatal through labour and birth and onto postnatal episodes within a model of shared caseloading with a small team of midwives. Women were able to birth at home, at local birth centres and at the maternity hospital, sharing care with GPs and other primary health services as well as obstetricians where care became higher-risk.

Within education, Liz has worked at Bournemouth University across both pre and post-registration programmes since 1999 for a broad range of topic areas including embryology, health and wellbeing, individualised care, medicines management, lifelong learning, clinical skills and mental health during childbearing.

As a link lecturer Liz continues to support local maternity services and the mentoring of students in clinical practice settings. Liz is currently undertaking research for the Professional Doctorate exploring women’s experience of aquanatal groups during pregnancy.

View Liz Davey's profile

Dr Stella Rawnson – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Qualifying as a midwife in 1980, Stella has over 20 years of clinical experience during which she has worked in all aspects of clinical practice.

Prior to her move into education, she worked extensively in the community and in an isolated stand-alone birth centre, during which time she had the opportunity to hold a small personal caseload. She is an enthusiastic advocate for caseloading in practice and education, and currently co-leads and coordinates the student midwife caseloading initiative at Bournemouth University.

The focus for her doctoral studies is exploring how being part of a student midwife's caseload may have impacted on women's childbearing experiences, through hearing their personal stories.

View Stella Rawnson's profile

Sarah Emberley – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Sara Stride – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Dana Colbourne – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Dr Daisy Wiggins – Lecturer

Course changes

Changes in 2019

Date	Changes to this course
30/07/2019	Where the change was made: Course details and programme specification Change: - Reduced number of credits within the Level 6 Evidencing Practice unit from 40 to 20 - New unit added on Year 3 - 'Midwifery Emergencies' (created using the 20 credits taken from Evidencing Practice) - The OSSEs (objective structured simulated examinations) from Clinical Practice 3 become the assessment - Assessment reduced: Level 6 Clinical Practice 3 unit to the clinical practice assessment (OPAL), changed from 50%/50% to 100%, and reduce the number of ILOs from 6 to 3 Previous text: n/a

Date

Changes to this course

30/07/2019

Where the change was made: Course details and programme specification
Change:
- Reduced number of credits within the Level 6 Evidencing Practice unit from 40 to 20
- New unit added on Year 3 - 'Midwifery Emergencies' (created using the 20 credits taken from Evidencing Practice)
- The OSSEs (objective structured simulated examinations) from Clinical Practice 3 become the assessment
- Assessment reduced: Level 6 Clinical Practice 3 unit to the clinical practice assessment (OPAL), changed from 50%/50% to 100%, and reduce the number of ILOs from 6 to 3

Previous text: n/a

Changes in 2018

Date	Changes to this course
06/04/2018	Where the change was made: Exceptional assessment regulations Change: Paragraph added: “The ‘Carrying Credit’ rule does not apply to this programme, i.e. students who have failed 20 credits, or exceptionally 40 credits, may not progress to the next stage of the programme”. Previous text: n/a

Changes in 2017

Date	Changes to this course
29/09/2017	Where the change was made: 2018 entry requirements Change: 2018 Access course tariff points are 128 - 134 tariff points with any combination of Distinction, Merit, Pass grades. There was a mistake written previously in the grades required. Previous text: 118 - 134 tariff points with any combination of Distinction, Merit, Pass grades
6/9/2017	Where the change was made: Key facts and 2018 entry requirements Change: 2018 entry requirements have changed to 128 - 136 tariff points to include a minimum of 2 A-levels or equivalent including 32 points in a required subject. Previous text: The entry requirements for this course are 128 tariff points from 3 A Levels including 32 points from a required subject.
6/9/2017	Where the change was made: 2018 entry requirements Change: 2018 GCSE entry requirements have changed to This course requires GCSE English and Mathematics grade C (or grade 4 in the reformed GCSE grading) or equivalent qualifications. Previous text: This course requires a minimum of 4 GCSEs grades A* - C (or grade 4 or above in the newly reformed GCSE grading) including Maths and English or equivalent qualifications. A science subject is preferred.
19/12/2017	Where the change was made: Within the programme specification under "Progression" Change: Clarification of existing Non Standard Assessment Regulations Previous text: To proceed to Year 2, students must normally achieve 100 Level 4 credits and 20 Level 5 credits. To proceed to Year 3, students must normally achieve 100 Level 4 credits, 80 Level 5 credits and 60 Level 7 credits

Changes in 2016

Date	Changes to this course
	Where the change was made: International entry requirements Change: Only IELTS qualifications will be accepted for English language tests, we cannot accept equivalent qualifications. Previous text: IELTS (Academic) 7.0 with minimum 7.0 in each component, or equivalent
24/11/2016	Where the change was made: Key facts and 2017 entry requirements Change: Entry requirement tariff point change to: 128 tariff points from 3 A-Levels including 32 points from a required subject, or equivalent qualifications. BTEC Extended Diploma DDM. Previous text: 136 tariff points from 3 A-Levels including 32 points from a required subject, or equivalent qualifications. BTEC Extended Diploma DDD.
24/11/2016	Where the change was made: 2017 entry requirements Change: BTEC Diploma entry requirement changed to: The BTEC Diploma will be accepted as part of your overall tariff but it must be accompanied by A-levels or equivalent qualifications. Offers will be subject and grade specific, particularly in the science subjects. Previous text: BTEC Diploma: This course requires a Distinction*, Distinction and an A-Level Grade C in a required subject to achieve the overall tariff. Offers will be subject and grade specific, particularly in the science subjects.
24/11/2016	Where the change was made: 2017 entry requirements Change: European Baccalaureate entry requirements changed to: This course requires a minimum score of 76% overall. Previous text: Applicants are required to achieve a minimum score of 80% overall.
24/11/2016	Change: International Baccalaureate entry requirements changed to: The IB Diploma is welcomed as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB). This course requires 32 points including 5 points from each of the 3 Higher Level subjects. Where the change was made: 2017 entry requirements Previous text: The IB Diploma is welcomed as part of the International Baccalaureate (IB). This course requires 33 points including 5 points from each of the 3 Higher Level subjects.
24/11/2016	Where the change was made: 2017 entry requirements Change: Access to HE Diploma entry requirements added statement: Any combination of grades to meet the overall tariff is acceptable. Previous text: n/a

What our students say

Jennie Hallissey

One of my favourite aspects of the course is the student caseloading project. This part of the course allows students to carry their own caseload of women who they care for antenatally, in labour and following the birth.

Hear from our alumni

Christopher Butt

One of the most difficult things I've done in my life, but oh so worth it when you facilitate the birth of a baby and be part of the most joyous occasion in a family’s life.

What our students say

Kathryn Mercer

The support and guidance has enabled me to feel confident and competent throughout my time on practice, and I'm only a first year! The balance of independence and support is absolutely perfect.

BSc (Hons) Midwifery

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Read Agata’s blog, ‘10 things I wish I knew before starting university’

Exploring the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences

Read Kerry’s blog, ‘Becoming a mature student midwife’

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Dr Alison Taylor – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, Course Leader

Dr Catherine Angell – Head of Department, Principal Academic, Lead Midwife for Education

Dr Luisa Cescutti-Butler – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Dr Juliet Wood – Lecturer in Midwifery

Michelle Irving – Lecturer Midwifery

Susan Mant – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Debbee Houghton – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Denyse King – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Dr Jane Fry – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Lesley Milne – Senior Lecturer in Pre-Registration Midwifery

Liz Davey – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Dr Stella Rawnson – Senior Lecturer in Midwifery

Sarah Emberley – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Sara Stride – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Dana Colbourne – Lecturer (Academic) in Midwifery

Dr Daisy Wiggins – Lecturer

Course changes

Changes in 2019

Changes in 2018

Changes in 2017

Changes in 2016

What our students say

Jennie Hallissey

Hear from our alumni

Christopher Butt

What our students say

Kathryn Mercer