Midwifery

Midwifery is a profession dedicated to supporting women and their families through pregnancy, labour, birth, and the period immediately after. Midwives are autonomous practitioners who provide care across a continuum that spans the straightforward and the highly complex, working in hospitals, birth centres, and the community, and collaborating with obstetricians, neonatologists, and the wider multidisciplinary team when circumstances require it. The role demands clinical skill, scientific knowledge, and the capacity for the kind of compassionate, woman-centred care that makes a lasting difference to one of the most significant experiences in human life.

At the University of the West of England, Bristol, this three-year, full-time degree leads to qualification as a registered midwife. You will study the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy and childbirth, pharmacology relevant to midwifery practice, evidence-based approaches to care, and the legal and ethical frameworks within which midwives operate. Clinical placements form a substantial part of the programme, placing you in real practice settings from the early stages of your degree and building your confidence and competence with each successive placement.

UWE Bristol has strong links with NHS Trusts across the region, which gives you access to a variety of clinical environments and the range of experience that good midwifery education requires.

The academic demands of the degree are considerable. You will be expected to engage critically with research literature, to reflect on your practice, and to develop the communication skills that are central to providing safe and respectful care. The balance between scientific rigour and human skill is what makes midwifery education genuinely challenging and genuinely rewarding.

Graduates register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and practise across NHS and independent settings. Career pathways include community midwifery, specialist roles in areas such as bereavement support, diabetic pregnancy, and fetal medicine, as well as leadership, education, and research. Some graduates pursue postgraduate study to develop specialist or advanced practice.