Midwifery Course Handbook 

Dear Students

I am delighted to welcome you to our midwifery family at Sheffield Hallam University! You have just joined a local, national and international community of midwifery, a profession I have been privileged to be part of since 1996.

Firstly, congratulations on securing your place on the course – just getting here is a very competitive process and we are pleased to welcome you to the course after all your hard work. The next three years will be an exciting journey, where you will learn the knowledge, skills and attributes required to become a midwife. At SHU, we pride ourselves on supporting and developing future generations of midwives who will provide high-quality care to childbearing women, birthing people and their families. You will be supported on this journey by an excellent team of midwifery lecturers, practice partners who we have excellent collaborative relationships with, and the wider university community.

I hope you find this handbook useful in preparing you for the requirements of the course. I wish you every success for the next three years and look forward to getting to know you.

Rachel Best

Lead Midwife for Education / Associate Head of School: Health and Social Care (Midwifery)  

Dear students

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to study with us in the School of Health and Social Care, which is part of the College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences, at Sheffield Hallam University.

As a university, we pride ourselves on developing students to work as graduates in a competitive work environment. We have an excellent reputation for working with organisations, for example the NHS, to make this happen. This is particularly the case for our department and wider College, where we work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders including practice learning partners and service users and carers.

Within the College, colleagues are engaged in a number of activities to transform practice and generate new knowledge. We do this so together we can transform midwifery practice, ensuring you will be prepared for future practice and equipped to be the next generation of midwifery leaders. This is an exciting time as you embark on a new career on this new course. We will be working closely with you, and student representatives from your course and our department, to create exciting learning experiences and respond to your feedback.

As you would expect, we set high expectations for our students because we know this will prepare you for a professional career as a midwife and make a positive impact on care. I would encourage you to take part in all the activities that your course offers, to maximise your student experience. Do remember that there are a team of dedicated staff who are here to support you on this very rewarding journey.

I look forward to hearing how your journey progresses, and I wish you every success

Best wishes

Dr Jo Lidster