Home › Colleges & Schools▻College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences▻Prospective Students▻Postgraduate Taught Courses▻College of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences▻Nursing: Midwifery (HDip)

Nursing: Midwifery (HDip)

Expand all

Course Overview

The 18-month Higher Diploma in Midwifery is for registered general nurses who wish to pursue a career in midwifery. The programme builds on students’ prior professional, academic and personal experiences. Following successful completion of the programme, students are competent to fulfil the role of the midwife as outlined by the International Confederation of Midwives and are eligible to apply to register as a midwife with Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).

 

Applications and Selections

Applications can be made via PAC, www.pac.ie, to the HSE, approximately six months in advance of the start date.

 

Who Teaches this Course

  • Professor Declan Devane
  • Anne Fallon
  • Dr Miriam Brennan
  • Dr Linda Biesty
  • Dr Patricia Healy
  • Dr Magdalena Ohaja

Requirements and Assessment

Key Facts

Entry Requirements

Applicants must be registered on the General Division of the Register of Nurses maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. A minimum of six months’ experience as a registered general nurse, within the last three years, is required at the time of application.  

 


Additional Requirements

Duration

18 months, full-time

Next start date

September 2022

A Level Grades ()

Average intake

17

QQI/FET FETAC Entry Routes

Closing Date

The course will be advertised on the HSE website, on the School of Nursing and Midwifery NUI Galway website, and in national newspapers, approximately six months in advance of the start date.

NFQ level

Mode of study

ECTS weighting

90

Award

CAO

Course code

1HMW1

Course Outline

The Higher Diploma in Midwifery is of 18 months duration. The programme is provided by the School of Nursing and Midwifery at NUI Galway in partnership with the Maternity Department, University Hospital Galway.  The course consists of 12 months of clinical practice and six months of theoretical content. Clinical practice is located at University Hospital Galway and consists of placements in Antenatal, Intranatal, Postnatal, Midwife-led Placements, Gynaecology, Theatre & Recovery and Neonatal Unit. Theoretical content consists of the following modules: Anatomy and Physiology Applied to Midwifery, Midwifery Care I & II, Woman with Complications in Childbirth I & II, Care of the Well Neonate, The Neonate Requiring Specialised Care, Research, Psychology and Sociology applied to Midwifery, Professional Issues and an Elective Placement for Midwifery.  

Curriculum Information

Curriculum information relates to the current academic year (in most cases).
Course and module offerings and details may be subject to change.

Glossary of Terms

Credits
You must earn a defined number of credits (aka ECTS) to complete each year of your course. You do this by taking all of its required modules as well as the correct number of optional modules to obtain that year's total number of credits.
Module
An examinable portion of a subject or course, for which you attend lectures and/or tutorials and carry out assignments. E.g. Algebra and Calculus could be modules within the subject Mathematics. Each module has a unique module code eg. MA140.
Subject
Some courses allow you to choose subjects, where related modules are grouped together. Subjects have their own required number of credits, so you must take all that subject's required modules and may also need to obtain the remainder of the subject's total credits by choosing from its available optional modules.
Optional
A module you may choose to study.
Required
A module that you must study if you choose this course (or subject).
Required Core Subject
A subject you must study because it's integral to that course.
Semester
Most courses have 2 semesters (aka terms) per year, so a three-year course will have six semesters in total. For clarity, this page will refer to the first semester of year 2 as 'Semester 3'.

Year 1 (60 Credits)

Required NU6564: Midwifery Practice 1 - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required NU6556: Research for Midwifery - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required NU6554: Normal Midwifery Care 1 - 10 Credits - Semester 1
Required NU6553: Anatomy and Physiology Applied to Midwifery - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required NU6555: Care of the Well Neonate - 5 Credits - Semester 1
Required NU6567: Competency Assessment 2 - 0 Credits - Semester 2
Required NU6566: Competency Assessment 1 - 0 Credits - Semester 2
Required NU6558: Woman with Complications in Childbirth 1 - 5 Credits - Semester 2
Required NU6559: Professional Issues - 5 Credits - Semester 2
Required NU6565: Midwifery Practice 2 - 5 Credits - Semester 2
Required NU6560: Psychology for Midwifery - 5 Credits - Semester 2
Required NU6557: Normal Midwifery Care 2 - 10 Credits - Semester 2

Year 2 (30 Credits)

Required NU6568: Competency Assessment 3 - 0 Credits - Semester 3
Required NU6569: Competency Assessment 4 - 0 Credits - Semester 3
Required NU6563: Sociology for Midwifery - 5 Credits - Semester 3
Required NU6561: Woman with Complications in Childbirth 2 - 10 Credits - Semester 3
Required NU6570: Competency Assessment 5 - 0 Credits - Semester 3
Required NU6562: The Neonate Requiring Specialised Care - 5 Credits - Semester 3
Required NU6571: Competency Assessment 6 - 0 Credits - Semester 4
Required NU6572: Elective Practice Placement for Midwifery - 10 Credits - Semester 4

Why Choose This Course?

Career Opportunities

There are career opportunities for midwives to work in various practice settings including hospitals, midwife-led care units, clinics or in the community, across different models of care.  There are also opportunities to specialise in areas within clinical practice, or to focus more on education or research related to midwifery. For midwives who wish to work in another EU state, they must undertake a year of clinical midwifery practice in Ireland before they can register with any other EU Member State and practice in that country.

Who’s Suited to This Course

Learning Outcomes

 

Work Placement

Study Abroad

Related Student Organisations

Course Fees

Fees: EU

€

Fees: Tuition

€

Fees: Student levy

€

Fees: Non EU

€

This programme is sponsored by the HSE.

Find out More

Anne Fallon
T +353 91 495 601
E anne.fallon@nuigalway.ie
www.nuigalway.ie/nursing.midwifery/
www.hse.ie/eng/staff/jobs/job-search/nursing/midwifery/

Downloads

  • Postgraduate Taught Prospectus 2022

    Postgraduate Taught Prospectus 2022 PDF (14.3MB)