Midwifery

Welcome to the midwifery course page for new students. The midwifery programme runs within the School of Health Sciences, based at the Kate Granger Building.
You will find useful information regarding the course on this page and details of who to contact and how, should you have any questions regarding the course.
Course information
BSc (Hons) Midwifery is a three-year degree course, with 50% theory and 50% practice.
We provide clinical placements in 9 different hospitals across Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire.
There are three modules, one each year. Theoretical teaching delivery consists of a variety of classroom lectures, seminars, workshops, simulation, online resources, and self-directed learning. You can find further information on each of the modules and course information in the course handbook
Top tips
Get yourself a good year planner (that is a week-to-page). This course requires a lot of planning ahead and good time management skills.
Join a society/sports team. Alongside MidSoc (Our student midwives society), we recommend that you join another society or sports club to meet other students outside of Health Sciences. We’ve found this helps students establish a deeper sense of belonging within the student community and enriches the student experience.
Pre reading materials. Although we do not expect you to buy any books to be able to undertake this course, there are some that the Library do not hold which are really useful, such as the PROMPT manual (2018, 3rd edition). Understanding your professional code is vital and we’ve included a link to this below in the ‘recommended reading’ section.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) are one of many health care unions, but is the only one run by midwives, for midwives. They have lots of e-training available which can complete any registrant/aspiring registrant’s knowledge. So, you may also wish to consider joining the RCM as a student member, which is heavily discounted and included lots of benefits.
What a typical week looks like in Year 1
Once you’ve completed induction week, you’ll be starting your year one taught curriculum. Week one will include showing you around Surreylearn, our virtual learning environment (VLE).
Between the start of the year and the winter break, you will be undertaking theory only and will be in university-taught sessions for two days per week. Each day will run from approximately 9am to 4:30pm. In the School of Health Sciences at Surrey, we utilise a ‘prepare’, ‘discover’, ‘review’ approach to learning. Prior to your first session of the week, you will access the ‘prepare’ work on the VLE and undertake necessary pre-reading and activities to prepare you for the in-class ‘discover’ session.
One of the two days taught in university will be shared learning. Shared learning is in smaller groups of multidisciplinary students (Midwives, Nurses (all fields) and Paramedics). In the NHS, no professionals work in silos as we are all part of one wider team. This is important in ensuring safe, effective, and seamless care to optimise patient experience and wellbeing. We believe that it is vitally important to start your professional careers in the manner you will practice. Shared learning groups are not only taught to MDT groups, but by MDT groups, and you are likely to have tutors from all the disciplines facilitating these sessions.
In the shared learning ‘discover’ sessions, you will learn the fundamentals of health care practice, from communication to basic assessment skills, your professional codes of practice, anatomy, and physiology and much more. For the majority of the shared learning days, you will split your time between classroom seminars and the sim suite where you will explore and learn a wide range of communication and clinical skills with the help of our professional sim actors, expert simulation technicians and tutors, in our cutting-edge simulation centre.
After you have completed your day of shared learning, you will review your VLE to access the ‘review’ work – post-session learning and to prepare for your second day of the week at university by completing your ‘prepare’ work for your second, midwifery-specific, day at university.
Your midwifery-specific taught days will explore a case study, ‘Jane’. You will follow Jane and her pregnancy from preconception to the point of discharge to the Health Visitor, week by week. Some weeks will be based solely in the classroom and others will be a mixture of simulation and taught seminars.
Following your midwifery-specific day, you will revisit the VLE again, and complete any ‘review’ work for that session and start on the ‘prepare’ work for the following week. It is expected as an adult learner, that you spend an equal amount of time completing self-directed learning to the number of hours you spend in university-taught learning.
On the days between university-taught sessions, you may find yourself revising, reviewing, or preparing in the Hive. Or you may take the opportunity to visit the Library and get to know the Academic Skills and Development team there, who can offer a wide range of group and 1-2-1 sessions to support students with study skills and academic writing.
There is so much to do across the two campuses, so make sure you take a little time each week to enjoy being a student at university and practicing self-care.
Recommended reading
You don’t need to buy any books as all essential text are available online through the Library once you start your course.
Follow us
You can start to follow the midwifery team and current students on our social media pages:
Along with the Midwifery Society (MidSoc) pages:
Our midwifery lecturers
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