The Master of Midwifery aims to meet the current and proposed professional requirements for midwives practicing in a variety of environments who will be capable of working in partnerships with women, families, communities and multidisciplinary teams. The knowledge and skill requirements for a midwife working in remote, rural and complex areas for current and future role developments are incorporated at all stages of student learning.

At completion of this program the student will be able to:

• Understand the relationship between historical and contemporary aspects which affect women and family health within all cultural contexts;
• Evidence competence in meeting the ACMI and International Council of Midwifery standards;
• Work in partnership with the woman and multidisciplinary team to implement preventative measures, promote normal birth and detect complications in woman and infant;
• Work in partnership with the woman to give the necessary continuous supervision, care and advice for the woman prior to, during and following pregnancy;
• Conduct deliveries on own responsibility and care for the newborn infant
• Execute primary and secondary emergency measures in the absence of medical help and/or access relevant medical care (consultation or referral) and other appropriate assistance in order to carry out emergency measures;
• Incorporate primary health care principles in the maternity context to benefit the long term health of mother, child, the family unit and the community while providing women-centred care in all aspects of assessment, planning, delivery and evaluation of midwifery care and maternity services;
• Evidence high order communication skills and apply these in counselling, education and professional documentation across all aspects of midwifery practice;
• Relate legal and clinical governance requirements to the role of the midwife in various contexts of practice, while applying ethical standards and reflective strategies;
• Demonstrate the ability to apply evidence-based research to the role of midwife working within a multidisciplinary team providing care to childbearing women and their families;
• Evidence the attributes and skills necessary to participate in professional decision making at practice and policy level and participate in research and inter-professional decision making at practice and policy level.

To be eligible for the award of Master of Midwifery students must complete a total of 13 courses/96 units of credit (or equivalent with approved credit) as set out in the program structure:

• Level 1:  4 compulsory courses
• Level 2:  6 compulsory courses
• Advanced Level:  3 compulsory courses