Universal Midwifery Care: Antenatal - HEA00077C

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  • Department: Health Sciences
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: C
  • Academic year of delivery: 2025-26

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2025-26

Module aims

Note: This document uses the word 'women’ throughout. This should be taken to include people who do not identify as women but are pregnant or who have given birth.

  • Develop a rigorous, evidence based understanding of universal midwifery care for women and families during the antenatal period.

  • Evaluate the midwife’s role providing universal care for women and their families within the antenatal period, including:

    • public health, health promotion and health protection

    • assessment, screening and care planning

    • optimising normal physiological processes

    • working to promote positive outcomes and prevent complications.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate a rigorous, evidence based understanding of universal midwifery care for women and families during the antenatal period.

  2. Evaluate the midwife’s role providing universal care for women and their families within the antenatal period, with a focus on:

a) public health, health promotion and health protection

b) assessment, screening and care planning.

c) optimising normal physiological processes

d) working to promote positive outcomes and prevent complications.

  1. Evaluate evidence-based knowledge aligned to the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) topics mapped to this module.

Module content

Content includes: anatomy and physiology of relevant body systems, including normal changes during an uncomplicated antenatal period & optimisation of normal physiological processes; contemporary universal midwifery care for the antenatal period (knowledge, clinical skills (including simulation), role of the midwife within UK maternity care); the midwife’s role in antenatal assessment, screening and care planning; introduction to public health, health promotion and health protection; introduction to evidence-based midwifery; introduction to genomics; supporting and promoting individual needs; introduction to attachment relationships & safeguarding; introduction to the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) University Standards including anatomy and physiology related to breastfeeding, public health and feeding culture and providing woman-centred care; library resources and study skills, including exam preparation & technique.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) 100

Special assessment rules

Non-compensatable

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) 100

Module feedback

Students are provided with collective exam feedback relating to their cohort, within the timescale specified in the programme handbook.

Indicative reading

Baston, H. and Hall, J. (2017). Midwifery essentials volume 7 - basics (2nd ed). Edinburgh: Elsevier.

Clinicalskills.net (2022). Available via institutional Open Athens account.

Cottrell, S. (2012). The exam skills handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Cottrell, S. (2019). The study skills handbook (5th ed). London: Red Globe Press.

Dodsworth, L. (2019). Womanhood: the bare reality. London: Pinter & Martin.

Dodsworth, L. (2019). Bare reality: 100 women, their breasts, their stories. London: Pinter & Martin.

e-learning for health (e-lfh) (2022). The antenatal and newborn screening elearning module. [Online] Available at: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/nhs-screening-programmes/ [Accessed 11 March 2022].

Health Education England (2022) NHS Genomics in midwifery. [Online] Available at: https://www.genomicseducation.hee.nhs.uk/genomics-in-healthcare/genomics-in-midwifery/ [Accessed 11 March 2022].

Johnson, R. and Taylor, W. (2022). Skills for midwifery practice. (5th ed). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.

Marshall, J. and Raynor, M. (Eds). (2020). Myles' textbook for midwives. (17th ed). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. [NICE]. (2021). Antenatal care. NICE Guideline [NG21]. [Online] Available at: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng201 [Accessed 11 March 2022].

Rankin, J. (2020). Myles midwifery anatomy and physiology workbook. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.

UNICEF UK (2022). The Baby Friendly Initiative. [Online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/ [Accessed 11 March 2022].

University of York. (2022). Skills guides [Online] Available at: https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/skills [Accessed 11 March 2022).

Waugh, A. and Grant, A. (2018). Ross & Wilson's anatomy and physiology in health and Illness. (13th ed). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.