Midwifery Studies

Midwifery is the profession responsible for supporting women and their families through pregnancy, labour, birth, and the early postnatal period. Midwives provide care that is both highly skilled and deeply personal: they assess maternal and foetal wellbeing, facilitate normal birth, recognise complications and escalate care appropriately, provide emotional and psychological support, and help new parents establish feeding and bonding in the critical first days and weeks of their baby's life. It is a profession that demands clinical competence, independent judgement, and the capacity for compassionate care under pressure.

At Northumbria this four-year extended degree is designed around the future direction of midwifery practice while drawing on the essential elements of the discipline. You will develop as a proficient and confident practitioner, with investment in personal capabilities, values clarification, critical thinking, and research skills alongside clinical knowledge and competence. The programme is approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which is the professional regulator for midwives in the UK, and is designed to meet NMC requirements for professional registration.

Clinical placements form a substantial part of the programme, placing you in real maternity settings where you work under supervision with women and families across the full scope of midwifery practice.

Successful completion of the degree makes you eligible to apply for registration as a midwife with the NMC, which is the requirement to practise as a midwife in the UK.

Graduates work as registered midwives in NHS maternity services, birth centres, and community settings, with career pathways leading to specialist roles in areas such as antenatal screening, bereavement support, and infant feeding, as well as advanced practice, management, and academic roles. Many midwives also go on to postgraduate study in midwifery or related health sciences.