Bachelor of Midwifery

Degree Level Undergraduate

Years

Australian students

Start Date
February

Campus
City East

Duration
3 year(s) full-time

Mode
On-campus/Online

Program Code
IBMW

SATAC Code
414241 (Internal)
414245 (External)

Study as
Full-time or part-time

Fees
Commonwealth Supported

Entry Requirements
Selection Rank (Internal): 80.00 (for 2024)
Selection Rank (External): 80.00 (for 2024)
Selection Rank (Guaranteed): 93.00 (for 2025)
View full entry requirements

Prerequisites
None

Assumed Knowledge
None

Entry requirements

Admission criteria

The admission criteria have been grouped to assist you to easily find the information most relevant to your circumstances. However, you may fit into more than one and the university will consider applicants against each of the relevant criteria.

Certain conditions apply. For more information refer to Appendix 4 of the University's Selection and Entry policy.

Applicants are required to meet one of the following criteria with a competitive result, and demonstrate that they fulfil any prerequisite requirements and essential requirements for admission:

Recent secondary education
Meet any prerequisite requirements with a minimum grade of C- or equivalent
AND
- Qualify for the South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), and achieved a competitive Selection Rank (ATAR), or
- Complete secondary qualifications equivalent to SACE, or
- Complete the International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum score of 24 points
Applicants who have not achieved the Selection Rank required for automatic selection may be selected for any remaining places based on the grades of their year 12 subjects.

OR
Higher education study
- Complete or partially complete a recognised higher education program at Bachelor or higher level at a recognised higher education institution, or
- Complete a Diploma level program at a recognised higher education institution
OR
Vocational Education and Training (VET)
- Complete an award from a registered training organisation at Advanced Diploma level or above
OR
Work and life experience
- Qualify for Special Entry, or
- Complete a 12-month UniSA Foundation Studies program or equivalent, or
- Hold completed secondary qualifications equivalent to SACE obtained more than 2 years in the past
Essential requirements for admission

To meet entry requirements, applicants must consider the professional registration requirements, including the English Language Skills standard and complete a declaration stating how they will demonstrate their English language competency, as determined by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA).

All students must confirm that they meet the "Fitness to Practice in Clinical Placements" requirements upon entry to the program.
Prerequisites
None

Assumed Knowledge
None
View full entry requirements Hide full entry requirements

This program includes mandatory on-campus workshops and CoCE. All clinical placements must be undertaken in South Australia.

Aim

To prepare students to meet the standards required for registration and practice as informed by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council Midwife standards for practice.

Content & Structure

The Bachelor of Midwifery program aims to prepare graduate midwives who strive for excellence in the provision of care across the diversity of contemporary midwifery models and practice settings including metropolitan, rural and remote settings. The midwifery program team is dedicated to delivering education in innovative ways that provide transformational, student-centred learning experiences designed to develop their achievement of professional practice standards and the UniSA Graduate Qualities while embracing excellence, equity and diversity. Graduates are prepared to provide safe, high quality, woman-centred care that meets the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Midwife Standards for Practice.

Students engage in a range of professional placements opportunities where they can integrate theory into practice and further develop midwifery knowledge and decision making skills. The program is designed to provide graduates with the skills to be lifelong learners and thus the ability to extend their competence and knowledge through critical analysis and reflection on practice, taking responsibility for their professional development. This program requires successful completion of 108 units.

From 4 August 2025, the University of South Australia will no longer be accepting applications for new students. Study at Adelaide University.

What courses you'll study

Course name	Area and cat no.	Units	Reference
Year 1 - Introduction to Midwifery Practice
First Semester (Study Period 1, 2 or 3)
Evidence Based Midwifery	NURS 1074	4.5
Human Body 1	BIOL 1047	4.5
Primary Midwifery Practice	NURS 1075	9	Note(s): 2	Rule(s): 7,12
Second Semester (Study Period 4, 5 or 6), Summer Term (Study Period 7)
Experiential Learning Activity: Midwifery Foundation Practicum 1	NURS 1056	4.5	Note(s): 1,2,3,4,5	Rule(s): 4
Human Body 2	BIOL 1048	4.5
First Peoples' Health	HLTH 1047	4.5
Healthy Mothers and Babies	NURS 1059	4.5
Year 2 - Developing Midwifery Competence
First Semester (Study Period 1, 2 or 3)
Complex Care of the Woman	NURS 2042	9		Rule(s): 7,12
Fetal and Maternal Pathophysiology	BIOL 2056	4.5		Rule(s): 12
Experiential Learning Activity: Midwifery Development Practicum 2	NURS 2039	4.5	Note(s): 1,2,3,4,5	Rule(s): 4
Second Semester (Study Period 4, 5 or 6), Summer Term (Study Period 7)
Complex Care of the Neonate	NURS 2038	9		Rule(s): 7,12
Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapeutics for Midwives	PHAR 2025	4.5
Experiential Learning Activity: Midwifery Practice Development Practicum 3	NURS 2036	4.5	Note(s): 1,2,3,4,5	Rule(s): 4
Year 3 - Transition to Midwifery Professional Practice
First Semester (Study Period 1, 2 or 3)
Women's Health Across the Lifespan	NURS 3057	4.5		Rule(s): 12
Perinatal Mental Health and Wellbeing	NURS 3054	4.5		Rule(s): 12
Experiential Learning Activity: Midwifery Transition Practicum 4	NURS 3052	9	Note(s): 1,2,3,4,5	Rule(s): 4
Second Semester (Study Period 4, 5 or 6), Summer Term (Study Period 7)
Becoming a Midwife	NURS 3047	4.5		Rule(s): 12
Experiential Learning Activity: Midwifery Transition Practicum 5	NURS 3053	9	Note(s): 1,2,3,4,5	Rule(s): 4
Midwifery Project	NURS 3049	4.5

Rules & notes

Rules

1. The Bachelor of Midwifery is an undergraduate degree accredited by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) as a qualification leading to entry to the Register of Midwives with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). The program accreditation requires students to complete the program in three years full-time or up to six years part-time.

2. All students must confirm that they meet the "Fitness to Practice in Clinical Placements" requirements upon entry to the program, on each re-enrolment, and as may be required by the Program Director.

3. Students in this program are required to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Students who are refused registration, or who have their registration rescinded, will be unable to continue in the program.

4. Students who are subject to an investigation by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPRA) under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act cannot participate in Clinical Placements/Continuity of Care experiences (CoCE) until the investigation is completed and the University is notified of the outcome.

5. Students must provide evidence of a current National Police Certificate (NPC) and a completed Working with Children Check (WWCC) on commencement to the program.

6. Students must meet the vaccination requirements for health professionals prior to commencing the program. Failure to meet vaccination requirements will limit placement opportunities and may preclude progression in the program.

7. Students must demonstrate full compliance with the program's Compulsory Conditional Evidence Requirements prior to allocation of a Clinical Placement and CoCE as outlined on the UniSA Clinical Placement Unit website https://study.unisa.edu.au/student-placements-and-internships/nursing-health-medical-sciences/cpu/.

8. All students who undertake the program, whether full-time, part-time, internal, or external, will be required to attend clinical placements on a full-time basis. Shift work will be required over a 7-day, 24-hour roster.

9. Clinical placements are an integral component of the program and are undertaken in health agencies in metropolitan, rural or remote South Australia. Interstate students who accept an offer will be required to acknowledge that their placements and CoCE will all be based in South Australia.

10. Students are required to satisfy the standard of dress, behaviour and fitness for practice as prescribed by institutions in which clinical practicum placements are undertaken. This also applies to students undertaking Horizon Hospital and Health Service (HHHS) activities.

11. To achieve the standards required by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, students are required to participate in, and document, the number of episodes of care experiences prescribed by UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences and specified by Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council.

12. Students are required to attend compulsory on-campus intensive workshops/ seminars for some courses. Where possible, compulsory on-campus workshops/ seminars for courses scheduled in the same study period will be timetabled to minimise the duration that students are required to be on campus.

13. Students undertaking midwifery studies in Australia must practice in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Midwife Standards for Practice. If a student is unable to provide care to individuals due to religious, cultural or other reasons, the student will be unable to successfully complete course objectives and assessments within this program. This rule also applies to peer group work in classes.

14. Students who have completed a leave of absence, and/or not engaged in an Experiential Learning Activity (ELA) course in the previous 12-month period or who have failed an ELA will be required to undertake an 'IBMW Compulsory Module' for which a fee will be charged.

Notes

1. The "Fitness to Practice in Clinical Placements Requirement Statements" advise potential applicants and students of the requirements necessary to undertake a clinical placement as a student in preparation for entry (registration) into the nursing and midwifery professions or for specialist or advanced practice qualifications.

2. Students with a disability or chronic health condition may be able to have reasonable adjustments made to teaching and learning, assessment, clinical practice and other activities to enable them to participate in their course and meet the Fitness to Practice in Clinical Placements requirements. Reasonable adjustments should not fundamentally change the nature of the Fitness to Practice in Clinical Placements requirements.

3. Due to the nature of the Continuity of Care Experience (CoCE), students may be required to carry these out over more than one study period, hence receiving an interim (I) grade for the course. All interim notations will be converted to a non-graded pass or fail grade within one academic year in accordance with the University's Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual.

4. Students are advised that a current South Australian driver's licence may be required by some clinical venues.

5. Some CoCE may occur outside normal teaching periods. All midwifery students must register CoCE women, attend the required orientation and be compliant with conditional evidence at all times.

6. Students who have completed a Bachelor of Nursing or equivalent and are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) may be eligible to receive 36.0 units of credit towards the Bachelor of Midwifery.

Professional accreditation and recognition

Graduates satisfy the academic requirements for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. The requirements for registration are determined by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.