Advanced Midwifery Practice
MSc
Intermediate award(s): PG Cert, PG DipCourse overview
Our course is for midwives who are passionate about their practice and wish to develop their knowledge and skills to an advanced level. It will enable experienced midwives to develop the skills of independent thinking required for advanced midwifery practice. The specialist modules that make up this course will encourage you to further develop and enhance your existing knowledge and skills, both by exploring how to promote normality during childbirth and how to care for vulnerable women with complex needs. The supporting optional modules will help you to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for assuming leadership roles in clinical practice or research.Additional course information
Whilst academically challenging, this course is designed to provide midwives with both the knowledge and skills to enhance their practice to an advanced level. The confidence gained from a sound understanding of the physiology of birth will aid practitioners wishing to promote midwifery care in highly medicalised institutions or in the community.Core modules
Promoting Normal Birth
This module addresses one of the major national and international concerns about childbirth: the rising rates of intervention, and aims to provide Midwives with the underpinning knowledge and confidence required to modify this situation. You will be encouraged to develop your existing knowledge and skills by exploring the concept of normality and determining how this might be promoted during the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal periods. Both international and local perspectives will be analysed, enabling students to apply their learning to their particular position, whilst deepening their understanding of alternative situations.
Facilitating Complex Birth
This module explores the role of the Midwife in supporting women with complex social, emotional, and physical needs. Students are encouraged to explore both direct and indirect causes of maternal death and the role of the midwife in addressing these. They are also expected to consider wider influences on maternal mortality and morbidity. Strategies for the maintenance of normality within such complex situations will be promoted. Students will be supported in applying their learning to their own clinical practice, and develop their skills in caring for women with complex needs.
Research Studies
This module is designed to provide you with a critical overview of the main methodologies and designs applied to research within health and social care, professional practice, regulation and policy. It provides you with an opportunity to explore the theoretical dilemmas that underlie the process of inquiry and its relationship to practice. The module will provide a framework within which to select, evaluate and justify the research methods chosen for your research project. This module is taken by students on a variety of different Masters courses.
Major Project
The Major Project is of central importance to the student's Masters award. The student will be expected to bring together aspects of learning from previous modules as well as using this learning as the basis for planning, conducting and writing up a research or work-based project.
Optional modules
Advanced Communication Skills
This interprofessional module is based upon experiential learning to explore the student's own learning needs in relation to communication issues. You will reflect upon the importance of good communication and explore the theory of communication in complex situations. You will have the opportunity to practice and critically review your micro skills in a safe environment. This will enable the development of reflexivity and increased self awareness in relation to your own performance. The module will require students to identify stressors prevalent in this work in order to broaden their repertoire of coping strategies.
Law and Ethics in Health & Social Care
This module will enable you to acquire a detailed and critical understanding of the generic ethical and legal theories and principles that underpin health and social care (e.g. consent, confidentiality, duty to care, human rights). You will also have the opportunity to focus on particular aspects of law and ethics that have relevance to your practice or personal interest This module is particularly relevant to health and social care professionals wishing to develop crucial insights into legal and ethical issues in practice.
Strategic Management & Commissioning
On this module you will be familiarised with the planning and methods of various community assessment methods that inform priority setting and equable service provision (e.g. Health Needs Assessment). It will introduce you to the principles and methods of partnership working, leadership and change management.
Health Promotion (30 credits)
While interventions solely concerned with trying to change the health-related behaviour of individuals have had some success, it is apparent that health promotion strategies for population health gain are also required. In addition, contemporary health promotion has come to be seen as a movement for social and political change and for sustainable development. Thus, it goes beyond a medical and clinical focus to consider life context and health determinants other than disease. It also acknowledges the need to empower individuals and communities and for the need to find ways for health professionals to enable this aspect of health promotion. Our module is designed to develop the knowledge and critical analysis skills of students in relation to behaviour change, strategic health promotion, individual and communitarian empowerment strategies and concomitant socio-political issues. You will be encouraged to reflect on your practice and develop your understanding of health promotion models, theory and evidence based interventions to promote health for individuals and populations and for community empowerment, development and sustainability.
Global Leadership (30 credits)
Businesses, whether private, public or third sector, operate in a world facing a range of urgent global issues. This module examines the fitness of business in both Health and Social care and other sectors and individuals to tackle such issues. The key foci will be: effective decision making, adoption of a global approach, creation of a new business paradigm and a contemporary mission. The module also considers the related concept of Misleadership, which looks at how leaders have often failed to achieve the optimum outcomes for those they lead. Leaders predominantly create context and this module will explore the skills required to successfully mould and develop the context in a complex evolving environment.
Assessment
The forms of assessment vary between modules, and include written essays, seminar presentation with supporting paper, a research proposal and, for the MSc, a Masters level major project of no more than 25,000 words. All the assessments are designed to demonstrate the range of knowledge and skills that would be expected of a practitioner working at an advanced level.Special features
This course is supported by an exceptional academic team of experienced midwives and is run within a department that has a track record for innovative midwifery training.Our midwifery team maintains an extensive engagement with international agencies via links such as the UK Network on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, World Health Organisation (WHO), The White Ribbon Alliance and the London School for Health and Tropical Medicine.
Anglia Ruskin is one of only a few universities in the UK to hold a Baby-Friendly Certificate of Commitment and stage-one assessment. We are currently working towards stage-two assessment and full accreditation.
We maintain strong co-operative links with midwife-practitioners - we work in all eight NHS trusts in our region.
Meet the team
An exceptional team of midwifery lecturers, all of whom maintain strong links with clinical practice, supports this innovative course. Not only are we able to offer a breadth and depth of expertise in advanced midwifery practice, but we also hold academic qualifications in the discipline of midwifery, supported by qualifications in anthropology, sociology and women's studies, international health, management and business administration, education, social research methods, interprofessional healthcare, primary and community care, and women's.All lecturers are required to have a Master's degree and Postgraduate diploma in education. In addition to this many staff have completed or undertaking Doctoral study.
The research interests of the team include:
- organisational studies and the implications for professionals and care delivery,
- body image and effects on contraception,
- implications of examination of the newborn, neonatal studies including family dimension,
- all aspects of breastfeeding,
- clinicians' experiences of managing obstetric emergencies,
- historical analysis of intervention in midwifery care, and
- students' experiences of midwifery training.
The team also has a strong background of international experience working in the field of mother and child health in: Nigeria, Nepal, The Maldives, Ascension Island, Romania, Somaliland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Montenegro, Sudan and Afghanistan. We are able to offer a high degree of support to midwives from diverse situations (UK and International) seeking to develop their specialist areas of practice.
Course Leader, Advanced Midwifery Practice
"I have a passion for midwifery, and believe in the importance of normalising birth for all women regardless of known risk factors. I believe that further education and increased depth of knowledge can inspire practitioners to continue to improve care for women and their families."
Associated careers
Successful completion of this course will offer you the potential to advance your career into leadership positions within clinical settings, or in the fields of management, research and teaching.Entry requirements
Applicants should hold an appropriate Midwifery qualification and have at least one years post-qualification experience of working as a midwife and evidence of appropriate continuing professional development. Applicants will usually have an Honours degree or equivalent qualification. International applicants will be required to demonstrate the university standard of English language (IELTS) at Level 6.5 (including written English) prior to commencement on a course. Students who do not meet this requirement will be advised to seek support from Anglia Ruskin University's Language Centre. The courses offered within the Language Centre are ideal for any student who wants to improve their English in order to progress to a university course.International Students
We welcome applications from International and EU students. Applicants will be required to demonstrate the University standard of English language (IELTS) at Level 6.5 (including written English) prior to commencement on a course. Students who do not meet this criterion will be advised to seek support from ALS English language programme prior to commencement of the course.How to apply
Locations
- Chelmsford
- Distance Learning
Duration
2-3 yearsTeaching times*
Wednesday (times tbc)Available starts
SeptemberStudent finance
Open Day
Saturday 13 JulyPostgraduate Open Day
Faculty
Health, Social Care & EducationDepartment
Primary and Public HealthContact us
UK and EU applicants:- Call 01245 686868
- Complete enquiry form
- Call +44 (0)1245 493131 ext 2609
- Complete enquiry form
*Teaching days and times are for guidance only and are subject to change each academic year. We advise all applicants to wait until they are in receipt of their timetable before making arrangements around their course times.
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