Midwifery - units of study descriptors

MIDI 5001 Midwifery Foundations & Practice
MIDI 5002 Midwifery Clinical Experience A
MIDI 5003 Contemporary Midwifery In Context
MIDI 5004 Inquiry & Evidence In Midwifery
MIDI 5005 Midwifery Care In Complex Situations A
MIDI 5006 Midwifery Care In Complex Situations B
MIDI 5007 Professional Issues In Midwifery
MIDI 5008 Midwifery Clinical Experience B
MIDI 6002 Midwifery Research Methods & Application
MIDI 6010 Midwifery Project

MIDI 5001: Midwifery Foundations & Practice
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: Nil
Co-requisites: Nil
Session:

This unit of study will provide students with a knowledge base in relation to normal conception, pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period prior to their commencement in the clinical environment. A primary health care focus as it applies to childbearing will be adopted. The unit will assist students in gaining an understanding of the scientific knowledge that underpins midwifery practice. The anatomy and physiology of reproduction will be covered as it relates to understanding of the normal childbearing process, that is conception, pregnancy, labour, birth and the puerperium. Issues for the childbearing family and midwifery care are briefly explored from historical, cultural and ideological perspectives. An overview of the current models of midwifery care will be given and interpersonal/therapeutic communications will be introduced. Cultural diversity (including indigenous Australians) and issues related to the provision of midwifery care will be covered at an introductory level within this unit of study.

MIDI 5002: Midwifery Clinical Experience A
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: MIDI 5001
Co-requisites: MIDI 5003
Session:

The aim of Midwifery Clinical Experience A is to provide students with experiences delivering appropriate care to women and their families throughout childbearing. During this unit of study students have the opportunity to commence the midwifery clinical experience required by the Nurses and Midwives Board of New South Wales and write these up in the Midwifery Clinical Practice Record. The unit of study provides opportunities to integrate the theoretical studies with midwifery clinical experience.

MIDI 5003: Contemporary Midwifery In Context
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: MIDI 5001
Corequisites: MIDI 5002
Session:

This unit of study will build upon the Midwifery Foundations and Practice unit. The principles of primary health care and woman centered approach to midwifery practice will continue to be integrated throughout this unit to enable students to understand and apply the principles in planning midwifery care. Assessment and monitoring of the progress of a woman and her baby (foetus) during pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal period will be addressed. Assessment of the education requirements of the woman and her family during the childbearing period (including preconception) and how these might be addressed will be covered. Issues affecting childbearing will be further explored from socio-political, legal, ethical, cultural, environmental, psychological and spiritual perspectives.

MIDI 5004: Inquiry & Evidence In Midwifery
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: Nil
Corequisites: Nil
Session:

Midwifery knowledge is generated through a process of inquiry into the practice of the discipline and by examining personal experience, research texts and journals. Critical analysis of these various modes of inquiry will be used to investigate midwifery practice and/or matters of interest to midwives. Areas of midwifery that require further inquiry to provide a sound evidence base for practice will be identified and explored. Opportunities will be provided to experience the inquiry process with reference to clinically related situations.

MIDI 5005: Midwifery Care In Complex Situations A
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: MIDI 5001; MIDI 5003
Corequisites: MIDI 5002 or MIDI 500
Session:

This unit of study builds on knowledge and skills gained in Midwifery Foundations and Practice and Contemporary Midwifery in Context. It is designed to prepare students to provide appropriate woman centered midwifery care, at a beginning practitioner level, throughout childbearing in complex midwifery situations. It will address situations that deviate from the normal.

MIDI 5006: Midwifery Care In Complex Situations B
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: MIDI 5005
Corequisites: MIDI 5008
Session:

This unit is studied concurrently with Midwifery Clinical Experience B. It is designed to prepare students to continue to provide appropriate midwifery care, at a beginning practitioner level, for the woman and her family throughout childbearing in complex midwifery situations.

MIDI 5007: Professional Issues In Midwifery
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: MIDI 5005; MIDI 5002
Corequisites: Nil
Session:

This unit of study embraces a range of issues surrounding contemporary midwifery practice such as models of midwifery practice, therapeutic communication skills and ethical issues, contemporary motherhood, parenting and family dynamics. The unit will enable students to develop competencies in the application of therapeutic communications in midwifery and to develop an ethical decision-making framework for the complex issues that may arise in their practice.

MIDI 5008: Midwifery Clinical Experience B
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: MIDI 5002
Corequisites: MIDI 5006
Session:

The aim of Midwifery Clinical Experience B is to provide students with experiences delivering appropriate care to women and their families throughout childbearing; the opportunity to continue the midwifery clinical experience required by the Nurses and Midwives Board of New South Wales. The unit of study provides the opportunities for the students to integrate their concurrent theoretical studies with midwifery clinical experience.

MIDI 6002 Midwifery Research Methods & Application
Credit points: 6
Prerequisites: Nil
Session:
Classes: Lectures, tutorials and field studies

This unit examines the ways in which midwifery knowledge, practices and modes of service can be investigated and enhanced. The unit begins with the Nightingale legacy of statistical analyses of morbidity and mortality and their use as key indicators and evidence of midwifery/nursing, health service and practice efficacy. This unit addresses the range of research designs, methodologies, data analysis/interpretation and processes of reporting that can be appropriately used in the development and evaluation of midwifery practices and processes of care.

MIDI 6010 Midwifery Project
12 credit points

This 12 credit point project aims to give midwifery students the opportunity to develop the skills required to undertake an advanced independent investigation on a topic or issue of relevance to the midwifery profession. Students may develop a proposal for independent research on a topic, a comprehensive literature review on a topic or produce a substantial paper that demonstrates the application of scholarly literature to a current issue in midwifery.