Graduate Diploma of Midwifery

The Graduate Diploma of Midwifery course enables Division One nurses to develop skills, knowledge and attributes necessary to gain endorsement by the Nurses Board of Victoria to practise as a midwife. This course is designed to prepare midwives with the theoretical and practical underpinnings necessary to practise midwifery in a multidisciplinary context. Skills for evaluating evidence for best midwifery practice, as well as for development of self, others and the profession, are also features of this preparation. Students are exposed to a wide variety of perspectives and environments in order to help them develop the ability to think critically about the role of the midwife in the maternity care setting.

Scope of midwifery practice will include:

• Prenatal midwifery, health promotion and education;
• Midwifery during labour and birth;
• Postpartum and home midwifery, contraception counselling;
• Care of the sick or premature newborn; and
• Students will also have the opportunity to explore in depth an area of midwifery that has particular relevance or interest to them or their individual practice setting.

Requirements for admission:

Successful applicants will normally have:

• Registration with the Nurses Board of Victoria (Division 1) or be eligible for registration;
• A Bachelor of Nursing or equivalent; and
• One year of professional clinical experience.

Applications encouraged by mid October of each year.

Course commitments:

Offered at the Gippsland Campus over 2 years (February – November) of part-time study

• Clinical experience minimum 16 hours per week.
• 3-4 residential schools held at Gippsland across the first year. Up to four study days held at Gippsland in the second year.
• Supernumerary paid/unpaid hours minimum 6 hours per week during semester.
• Supernumerary and unpaid hours can be ‘banked’.
• Students will be required to have access to adequate computer with internet facilities.

Employment:

Students are accepted into the course pending successful employment with an affiliated hospital. Students may also be required to obtain unpaid experience through other agencies, depending upon breadth and depth of experience offered at their hospital of employment.

2007 Fees:

Domestic and Commonwealth Supported Places (HECS) fees are available to eligible students.  For future years of your course, Monash University reserves the right to adjust annual tuition fees. However, the University undertakes that any adjustment will not exceed 6% per annum and will be applied on the 1st of January each year for that year. 

After completion of either of the above courses, students may choose to apply to undertake the Master of Nursing course.  The Masters course is available to eligible students as a Commonwealth Supported Place (formerly known as HECS) course.  International course fees are applicable for eligible international students.

For future years of your course, Monash University reserves the right to adjust annual tuition fees. However the University undertakes that any adjustment will not exceed 6% per annum and will be applied on the 1st of January each year for that year.

Course structure:

Students will be enrolled Mixed-Mode. The following 4 units will be delivered through on-campus workshops, seminars, lectures, tutorials, off-campus distributed learning, on-line study and by learning contracts.

MID9001 Woman Midwife Partnerships

This unit forms the basis for midwifery skill and identity development from which further learning in practice will develop. This unit prepares students for the provision of safe midwifery care to healthy mothers and babies incorporating the integration of associated anatomy and physiology, psychology and sociology, and the evidence basis for maternity care.

MID9002 Extending Midwifery Partnerships

This unit will prepare students to provide safe midwifery care for sick mothers and babies and explore the related pathophysiology. Midwifery in a multidisciplinary context is explored, and students are expected to develop understandings of Best Practice in maternity care.

MID9003 Midwifery and Maternity in Context

Students are provided with the opportunity to explore in depth professional and discipline related issues, including identification of evidence-less practice. This unit also incorporates law and ethics in midwifery practice, and skill development in health promotion and education, particularly in relation to pregnancy, birth and parenting and fertility regulation. The health promoting properties of breastfeeding, and skills for promoting breastfeeding will be explored in some depth along with the sociological aspects of breastfeeding.

MID9004 Becoming a Midwife

This unit provides students with the opportunity to explore issues of applied midwifery practice, evidence based midwifery practice, applied midwifery research and midwifery research critique. The integration of services across the community and hospital settings is critiqued from a family perspective, and opportunities for practice development are identified. Students are then able to explore or extend an individual area of interest in midwifery practice in more depth, that may lead to an improvement in their service. The student’s concept of self as midwife now and in the future is reflected upon in relation to ongoing learning, competence and skill development, and professional responsibility and growth of self and others.

Credit for previous study:

Nurses who have undertaken related study at a postgraduate level, including a nursing specialisation certificate may be eligible for credit/recognition of prior learning.

For more information:

Maureen Miles, (Course Coordinator)
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Northways Road , Churchill 3842
Tel: (03) 9902 6661 Fax (03) 51226527
Email: maureen.miles@med.monash.edu.au

Tara Harle, Administrative Officer
Northways Road, Churchill 3842
Tel: (03) 5122 6441 Fax (03) 51226527
Email: tara.harle@med.monash.edu.au

Homepage: http://www.med.monash.edu.au/nursing