Midwifery (with registration as a midwife)

This course will enable you to become a highly-skilled, autonomous midwife. You will learn how to support, advise, and advocate for women, birthing individuals, their partners, and their families, by providing evidence-based care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. Throughout your studies, you’ll be fully supported by midwifery academics and practice educators. With the support of experienced midwife lecturers and practice supervisors our students are able to develop the competencies and essential skills mandated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to enable registration as a midwife.

Unique continuity of care placements

Half of the MSc programme is spent on clinical placement. We offer placements in Barnsley, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. Once allocated a placement, you’ll be expected to work a variety of shifts covering a 24/7 period to experience the diversity of maternity care services, in a variety of settings.

We are the first university to build the latest NHS guidance on continuity of care into our placements programme. This means, instead of seeing different women and birthing individuals at different stages throughout their pregnancy, you will build your own caseload of individuals and follow them through their pregnancy journey, fully supported by practice supervisors.

These real-world experiences run alongside sessions at our state-of-the-art Clinical Skills Centre at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. Here, you will practise clinical skills in a safe and supportive simulated environment.

Enhanced training for advocacy roles

The programme is led by experienced midwives, healthcare professionals, and academics, who will introduce you to key topics and the latest research in midwifery - from public health to infant feeding, as well as supporting you to develop your practical skills. Theory sessions take place across the University campus and include lectures, seminars, workshops, enquiry-based learning, self-directed study, and simulation.

The University of Sheffield programme has a strong leadership focus throughout and is currently the only university to fully integrate the Professional Midwifery Advocate (PMA) course into our programme. This means that you will also be qualified for PMA roles that come with additional supervision, support and staff development responsibilities upon qualification as a midwife.

In addition, our ‘Preparing to Prescribe’ training will give you the background knowledge to pursue a non-medical prescribing qualification once you are practicing as a midwife.

NHS Learning Support Fund

As a MSc Midwifery student you can apply for the NHS Learning Support Fund to help support your studies. This includes a training grant of £5,000 per academic year, which you don’t need to pay back. Students can also claim travel expenses to clinical placements and extra funding for those with dependent children or those facing hardship. All students on the programme are eligible for this funding, regardless of whether you have had an undergraduate loan in the past.

Accreditation

This course is accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). It will give you the knowledge, skills and experience you need to join the NMC register and practise as a midwife. It also qualifies you to work as a Professional Midwifery Advocate.

The content of this course meets the UNICEF-UK Baby Friendly Initiative Standards.