BSc (Honours) Midwifery
Three years full-time
UCAS code • B720
Location • Collegiate Campus
Subject area • Nursing and midwifery
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View a 360 degree tour of our mock hospital ward.
View videos about midwifery, the benefits of this course and studying midwifery with us.
View profiles of students on this course
Our health and social care courses place a strong emphasis on interprofessional learning. This means that you train alongside practitioners from other health professions. Find out more.
At a glance
Study to become a midwife in facilities praised by the UK’s Nursing and Midwifery Council. Gain the professional experience you need to gain employment by spending 50% of your time training on placement with a healthcare trust. To date, all students have found careers in midwifery following graduation.
Key points
• Train for the workplace in £13 million facilities, including a mock medical ward.
• Spend 50% of your time on placement within a local healthcare trust.
• Learn from lecturers with practical experience, many of whom still work in hospitals.
• Gain an additional level 2 award in understanding health improvement.
What is midwifery?
Midwifery is the study and practice of being a midwife. Midwives provide support, care and advice for the woman and child during pregnancy, labour, birth and afterwards. This includes promoting normal birth • preventative measures • detecting complications and making referrals to appropriate others for example accessing medical care or other suitable support and carrying out emergency measures.
A midwife also provides health counselling and education for the woman, the family and the community. This includes preconception care • antenatal education • preparation for parenthood • women’s health • sexual health • reproductive health • care of the newborn.
This course
Study to become a midwife in facilities described by the Nursing and Midwifery Council as 'a beacon for the future development of health education in this country'. To date, 100% of our graduates have been employed in midwifery in the UK. You develop all the skills needed to provide essential support, care and advice for women and children during pregnancy, labour, birth and afterwards.
We provide modern facilities to help you develop clinical skills and specialist knowledge for your career. You study in our £13 million purpose-built Robert Winston Building on Collegiate Campus. Its clinical suites include mock birthing facilities which simulate the home or hospital environments in which you learn and work. This makes it easier to make the links between theory and practice in the real world with confidence.
Practice-based learning is central to your development and you spend 50% of each year on clinical placements in a hospital or community setting with Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley or Doncaster and Bassetlaw trusts. By learning this way, you will find that your academic study supports your learning in clinical practice and you are provided with a mentor to help develop your skills. Two of the above trusts provide your practice placements. This is most helpful in broadening your experiences.
To complete your practical training, you carry out a 14 week placement in the community with a small caseload, supported by your midwife mentor in your final year.
In your final year you also write a dissertation, where you develop your specialist understanding and analytical skills by investigating a topic relating to midwifery. The dissertation is based on a topic of your choice. This provides an opportunity for you to explore complex and sometimes contentious issues for mothers and midwives for example women's decision making around their childbirth experiences.
As part of the course you complete a Level 2 award in understanding health improvement, which provides you with a certificate from the Royal Society of Public Health. We are currently the only university in the UK that offers this as part of our healthcare courses.
Key areas of study
Year one concentrates on childbirth as a normal and healthy life event, with year two focussing on the care and management of more complex cases. Year three blends all previous experiences in readiness for management of a small caseload of women and practice beyond registration as a midwife.
Key areas include • midwifery and normality • health and psychosocial aspects of maternity care • infant feeding • obstetric and neonatal emergencies • promoting normality and women’s health • promoting mental health and wellbeing • public health.
We have a full size computer programmable mother and baby simulator designed to reproduce hundreds of different births in real time or at an accelerated speed. These include births with complications such as breech deliveries, caesarean sections and premature births.
Find out more about BSc (Honours) Midwifery
Related courses
You apply for this course through UCAS.
2013/14 academic year
If you are studying a course funded by the Department of Health (nursing, midwifery or the allied health professions) you will not normally pay any fees yourself, as they will be paid for you by the Department of Health.
You may be eligible for an NHS bursary but you will not be eligible for the bursaries and scholarships described in the Sheffield Hallam University Bursary Scheme. For more information on NHS bursaries visit www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students/4002.aspx
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/study/ug/fees-and-funding
• examinations • coursework • case studies • presentations
This course is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Graduates are eligible to apply to register with them. You must be registered with the NMC in order to practise as a midwife in the UK.
Key Information Set 
Mock hospital ward
The mock hospital ward at our Collegiate Campus gives students a hands on experience as it would be in a real hospital.
About the course (1:16)
Janet Medforth nursing and midwifery lecturer, talks about the nursing and midwifery department and the funding available to undergraduate students.
Midwifery employment record (0:27)
Nursing and midwifery lecturer Janet Medforth describes the excellent employment rate for our graduates.
Course facilities (1:06)
Nursing and midwifery lecturer Janet Medforth describes the facilities available for our students to use.
Clinical placement (1:30)
Nursing and midwifery lecturer Janet Medforth talks about nursing and midwifery clinical placements.
Clinical skills (0:37)
Nursing and midwifery lecturer Janet Medforth talks about the clinical skills our students learn to prepare them for going on placement.
What we look for in a student (1:50)
Nursing and midwifery lecturer Janet Medforth talks about the diverse people we train and the qualities we look for in our students.
Realistic expectations (1:35)
Nursing and midwifery lecturer Janet Medforth explains that training to be a nurse or midwife is very demanding, but that there is a lot of support available to help you succeed.
Rachel Gallimore
 MIDWIFERY STUDIES1.jpg)
BSc (Honours) Midwifery, third year
'I liked the look of Sheffield Hallam and the life in Sheffield from the prospectus. I then visited Sheffield Hallam and applied straight away.
'I was interviewed by the midwifery team, who throughout the selection day made me feel comfortable. I was over the moon to be offered a place to start my midwifery training.
'On every visit to Sheffield Hallam I was put at ease by the staff and students which was very reassuring in the move away from home at 18.
'The university has libraries and many ICT facilities throughout both campuses, both in the city centre and at collegiate crescent (where midwifery is taught) making it very easy to research and complete work wherever you’re living.
'The course is split between university and placement. The university blocks are made up of lectures, small group tasks and practical sessions. The practical sessions use the same facilities which are used in the hospitals, making learning very easy. We also use equipment to learn skills prior to going out on placement e.g. learning to take blood (venepuncture).
'When you’re on placement you are fully supported by your mentors and tutors. The course is hard work and emotionally challenging but every day is rewarding.
'Sheffield is a city which has something for everyone without feeling too busy and impersonal. As I am not from Sheffield, I can say for sure that the people of Sheffield are very friendly, helpful and welcoming.'
Esther Watson
BSc (Honours) Midwifery, 2010 graduate, speaking in 2009
'I finished school with 4 A-levels and went on to study for a BA Hons in Sociology at Sheffield University. Then I took a year out and travelled for seven months before starting this midwifery degree, of which I am now in third year. I really wanted to stay in the city that now felt like home after four years away from my family in Newcastle. The university seemed to be very up to date with its diversity of teaching, such as group work, problem-based learning and mixture of academic and placement assessments.
'I chose to study midwifery as I wanted a more vocational career than my previous degree offered me. Pregnancy and childbirth fascinated me and the chance to share a really special and exciting time with women and their families is such a gift.
'During the midwifery programme we have some time in University balanced nicely with a mix of placements around the realm of maternity services. Being able to go out on placement, working in the community and hospital at two different trusts helps to build confidence and clinical skills.
'The Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, in particular, seems to hold a mixture of students of all ages and backgrounds making it particularly attractive to mature students wanting to get back into education. I think being in such close proximity to the city is great for transport links, as well as the nightlife!
'Advice I would offer prospective students is to choose carefully where you'd really like to study. Explore the range of teaching and assessment methods and maybe compare them with your top five universities.
'Bare in mind practicalities such as transport links, housing costs, proximity to home – depending on how far you want to be – and the cost of living. As a student straight from school, try to throw yourself into new and exciting ventures, groups and university life; it will be the best experience you'll have.
'The best thing about Sheffield is its so green! The small city centre makes it easy to get about, Meadowhall has good shopping, there's great bus and train links with the rest of the UK and the Peak District is right on your doorstep. It's one of the cheapest cities for living in and affordable housing is in abundance. It also helps that the locals are so welcoming'
Lauramay Eden
BSc (Honours) Midwifery, 2010 graduate, speaking in 2009
'I was born and brought up in Doncaster, but moved to Scotland at age 19 to study at the University of Glasgow after my gap year, where I worked at a women's refuge in Malaysia. I did not enjoy the subject I was studying and knew almost immediately that I wanted to train as a midwife, but was afraid my CV was not good enough at the time. I spent almost all my free time in Glasgow volunteering with children's charities and working as a youth worker for underprivileged teenagers.
'My gap year in Malaysia, working at a women's refuge/orphanage/primary school pointed me in the direction of midwifery. Being a Muslim country, women who became pregnant out of marriage were often stigmatised and isolated, so would come to the refuge to deliver their babies. I would so touched by the love and care of staff for these women, and really felt a bond with the whole process of caring for families through this vulnerable but special time.
'The best thing about the course is the friends I have made. I have met people on my course who I think I will always have in my life. Midwifery is so challenging and so demanding that we all rely so much on each other and support each other completely. Also, it is a privilege to care for women at a special time in their lives. It is so humbling to support families through such a life-changing event, and I love being there to guide, assist and empower them to have positive experiences.
'The staff at Sheffield Hallam are excellent. Midwifery lecturers have a real passion for what they do and they share it with us, and build our own passions. They encourage us in our different interests in the job, and are always there to support us in any personal difficulties. They are professional and approachable, and I know some people would not have been able to continue on this difficult course without their unconditional support.
'I hope to stay on in Sheffield post-qualification just because I love the atmosphere and friendliness of this city. I would love to work at the Jessop Wing where I am completing my third and final year. The staff are so supportive and really have a passion for the care of women and their families.'
Profiles
Rachel Gallimore
BSc (Honours) Midwifery, third year
 MIDWIFERY STUDIES_thumb.jpg)
Esther Watson
BSc (Honours) Midwifery, 2010 graduate, speaking in 2009
Lauramay Eden
BSc (Honours) Midwifery, 2010 graduate, speaking in 2009
Together in the real world of health and social care
Our health and social care courses place a strong emphasis on interprofessional learning. This means that you train alongside practitioners from other health professions. So, depending on your course you could spend time working alongside
• nurses
• midwives
• operating department practitioners
This gives you a fresh perspective on situations. And it also prepares you for the real world. Collaboration between health professionals is increasing as organisations try to provide a more integrated and effective service. At Sheffield Hallam we understand that by working together we can we give the best possible care.
