MIDW113 - Midwifery Care of the Pregnant Woman

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

HLSC122 Evidence for Practice AND (MIDW127 Foundations in Midwifery OR MIDW111 Midwifery Professional Practice 1: Foundations in Midwifery Knowledge and Practice )

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit will extend foundational midwifery knowledge to provide safe, woman-centred, effective care across the childbearing continuum. The unit is required by students to consolidate their foundational learning and extend their midwifery knowledge on the role of the midwife within the available models of maternity care. The exploration of pre-pregnancy and antenatal evidence-based care and advice will prepare students for support of women during the Continuity of Care Experience (CCE) as a requirement for course registration. Commonly used medications and non-pharmacological therapies in the continuum of pregnancy care will be explored.

The aim of this unit is to build on earlier learning about the anatomy and the physiological processes of childbearing and extend students' knowledge of contemporary midwifery concepts in relation to care planning for women across the childbearing continuum.

We recognise that people who access maternity care may have diverse gender identities, that those who do can experience marginalisation and oppression, and that using appropriate terminology can help with these community members’ recognition and visibility, acknowledge the variety of pregnancy and birth experiences people may have, and respect individuals’ preferences. To reflect this, terms such as ‘pregnant person’, ‘birthing person’, ‘childbearing people’, ‘parent’ and ‘chestfeeding’ may be used in the midwifery courses at ACU in addition to ‘woman’, ‘mother’, ‘maternity’, ‘maternal’ and ‘breastfeeding’, which are used not to exclude those who do not identify as a woman, but in recognition that women continue to be marginalised and oppressed in many places around the world and to respect their own individual preferences.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Analyse selected models of care in relation to safety, collaboration, the rights and self-determination of the woman and her family; (GA4, GA6)

LO2 - Demonstrate effective communication and collaboration skills in relation to health promotion in pre-pregnancy, antenatal and early labour; (GA5, GA7, GA9) 

LO3 - Apply the principles of care planning and evaluation of safe, holistic, evidence-based midwifery care for women, babies and their families in a culturally appropriate manner; (GA3, GA5, GA8) 

LO4 - Apply the knowledge and principles of safe medication administration within the scope of practice and quality use of medicines framework. (GA5)

Graduate attributes

Each unit in your course contributes in some way to the development of the ACU Graduate Attributes which you should demonstrate by the time you complete your course. All Australian universities have their expected graduate attributes. ACU’s Graduate Attributes have a greater emphasis on ethical behaviour and community responsibility than those of many other universities. All of your units will enable you to develop some attributes.

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

NMBA Midwife Standards for Practice

NMBA (2018) Midwife Standards for Practice developed in this unit are: 

Content

Topics will include: 

Legal and professional practice 

• Legal issues in midwifery care 
• Informed consent 
• Duty of care
• Documentation and use of health informatics and health technologies 
• Legal aspects of medication administration 
• Medication knowledge and administration
• Ethical practice 
• Evidence-based practice 
• Assertive communication skills

Midwifery knowledge and practice 

• Pregnancy care 
• Models of care 
• Cultural competence 
• Principles and practice of antenatal care 
• Miscarriage 
• Health screening and diagnostic testing  
• Antenatal health assessment 
• Antenatal education 
• Advice regarding minor discomforts of pregnancy 
• Working with women to develop birth preferences 
• Recognition of labour 
• Early labour care  
• Introduction to non-pharmacological pain management 
• Care planning  
• Medication administration 
• Complementary therapies and common medications in antenatal care 
• Routes of administration and rationale 
• Postnatal care of the well mother and baby 
• Postnatal assessment  
• Introduction to feeding methods 

Midwifery as primary health care  

• Health promoting behaviours 
• Family care  

Reflective and ethical practice 

• Evaluation and reflection within care planning and provision

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

Modes of delivery in this unit include learner-centred resource sessions, tutorials and online classrooms. Consistent with adult learning principles, the teaching and learning strategies used within these modes of delivery will provide students with foundational knowledge and skills relevant to professional midwifery practice. These strategies will also support students in meeting the aim, learning outcomes and graduate attributes of the unit and the broader course learning outcomes. Learning and teaching strategies will reflect respect for the individual as an independent learner. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and to participate actively with peers. Scenario-based learning, case-based learning, problem-based learning and inquiry-based learning are all used to support the development of students' independent learning ability. 

Students entering university need significant support to transition into a learning and teaching environment where they are required to drive their own learning. To guide students in their learning, feedback is required to identify what is being done well, what requires additional work and to identify progress toward required learning outcomes. Located in the first year of the programme, this theory unit includes significant face-to-face teaching hours to assist students in linking midwifery theory with practice. Learner-centred resource sessions are utilised to convey content and central principles while tutorials deliver interactive learning sessions. These sessions include formative feedback to build foundational tertiary study skills while also providing an opportunity to establish group-work and community learning skills. Online materials are introduced to provide students with a foundation for ongoing, self-directed, self-motivated, off-campus study. 

Assessment strategy and rationale

A range of assessment procedures consistent with University assessment requirements will be used to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes.  

Students will work in groups to develop an oral presentation exploring discipline specific skills and knowledge of health promotion for childbearing women. The group work enables students to experience and reflect on working within the midwifery team, the wider multidisciplinary team and in health promotion teams. The written assignment provides students with the opportunity to explore the evidence base regarding care planning for women across the childbearing continuum. The examination enables students to demonstrate a sound knowledge base in addressing content and process questions related to unit content. 

These assessments are required to build student knowledge and skills which, by the conclusion of this programme, will enable the student to graduate as a safe and effective midwife. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Johnson, R., Taylor, W., De-Vitry Smith, S. & Bayes, S. (2019). Skills for Midwifery Practice (Australia & New Zealand edition). Elsevier.

Leap, N., & Hunter, B. (2022). Supporting Women for Labour and Birth: A Thoughtful Guide (2nd ed.). Routledge.  

MacDonald, S., & Johnson, G. (Eds.). (2017). Mayes' Midwifery (15th edition.). Elsevier.

Marshall, J., & Raynor, M. (Eds.). (2020). Myles Textbook for Midwives (17th ed.). Elsevier

Page, L., & McCandlish, R. (2006). The New Midwifery: Science and Sensitivity in Practice (2nd ed.). Churchill Livingstone. 

Pairman, S., Tracey, S., Dahlen, H., & Dixon, L. (2018). Midwifery: Preparation for Practice (4th ed.). Elsevier.

Rankin, J. (2017). Physiology in Childbearing: with Anatomy and Related Biosciences (4th ed.) Elsevier.

Taylor, J., O’Hara, L., Talbot, L., & Verrinder, G. (2020). Promoting Health: The Primary Health Care Approach (7th ed.). Elsevier.

Wambach, K., & Spencer B. (2021). Breastfeeding and Human Lactation (6th edition.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Wylie, L. & Bryce, H. (2016) The Midwives' Guide to Key Medical Conditions. (2nd ed.). Elsevier.