This internationally renowned qualification leads to registration as a midwife in New Zealand with solid, theoretical learning and real-life midwifery experience. Complete your studies through a blended combination of practical experience, online learning and compulsory block courses in Dunedin or Porirua.

Domestic

Duration

3 Years Full-time

Level

Credits

480

Fees

$35,783*

*Approximate full qualification tuition fee

Delivery

Blended learning

Location

Dunedin
Central Otago
Southland
Palmerston North
Whanganui
Greater Wellington

Intakes

February

International

Duration

3 Years Full-time

Level

Credits

480

Fees

$112,000*

*Approximate full qualification tuition fee

Delivery

Blended learning

Location

Dunedin
Central Otago
Southland
Palmerston North
Whanganui
Greater Wellington

Intakes

February

What You Study

Courses

The Bachelor of Midwifery degree is 3 years of full-time study, but the credit value is equivalent to 4 years of full-time study (compressed into 3 calendar years).

Year one

Year One focuses on the woman/wahine and her family/whānau and explores the wider context of New Zealand's maternity services and the options and choices available to women and families. It provides a context for midwifery practice and development of specific midwifery knowledge and skills.

Gain practice experience in maternity facilities and through one-on-one continuity of care with women and midwives, where you provide a support role for women throughout pregnancy, labour, birth and the postnatal period.

Year two

Year Two focuses on the midwife and her developing professional framework for practice. It provides the opportunity for you to develop specific midwifery practice knowledge and skills. Courses focus on the knowledge and skills required for you to work in the Midwifery Scope of Practice and to work collaboratively with other health professionals when required.

Gain experience in a variety of settings including one-on-one continuity of care experiences with women and midwives, and undertake placements in a range of maternity facilities, particularly secondary and tertiary facilities.

Year three

Year Three focuses on the partnership between each midwife and woman in the shared experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. It enables you to integrate and consolidate your learning from Years One and Two and demonstrate your readiness to meet the Competencies for Entry to the Register of Midwives.

Course	Course Name	Prerequisite	Corequisite	Level	Credit
Year one	All compulsory
BM101104	Midwifery Ways of Knowing			5	20
BM102104	Midwifery Assessment and Practice Skills			5	45
BM102204	Sharing the Woman's Experience of Childbirth			5	40
BM104104	Women in Aotearoa New Zealand			5	15
BM105104	Bioscience Foundations			5	15
BM106104	Hauora Māori			5	10
BM103104	Integrated Midwifery Practice 1		All first year courses	5	5
BM105204	Pharmacology Foundations			5	10
Year two	All compulsory
BM201104	Midwifery Ways of Knowing 2	BM101104		6	20
BM202104	Midwifery Scope of Practice	BM102104, BM102204, BM105104		6	40
BM202204	The Midwife and Collaborative Practice	BM202104		6	45
BM202604	The Midwife, Newborn and Breastfeeding	BM102104, BM102204		6	20
BM205104	Bioscience in Pregnancy and Childbirth	BM105104		6	15
BM205204	Pharmacology and Prescribing	BM105304		6	10
BM203104	Integrated Midwifery Practice 2	All first year courses	All second year courses	6	5
BM204104	Women's Health			6	5
Year three	All compulsory
BM301104	Midwifery Ways of Knowing 3	BM201104		7	10
BM302104	Rural Midwifery Practice	BM202104; BM202604; BM202304; BM205104; BM205204		7	30
BM302204	Continuity Midwifery Practice	BM202104; BM202604; BM202304; BM205104; BM205204		7	60
BM302304	Elective Midwifery Practice	BM202104; BM202204; BM202304; BM205104; BM205204		7	35
BM302404	Secondary/Tertiary Midwifery Practice	BM202104; BM202204; BM202304; BM205104; BM20604		7	15
BM307104	Sustainable Midwifery Practice			7	10

How you'll learn

Blended learning means that you learn through a combination of practical experience, online learning and traditional classroom teaching. And you'll learn this way at all of our satellite locations, including Dunedin.

The Bachelor of Midwifery is delivered at a series of satellite sites (North Island - Whanganui, Palmerston North and Greater Wellington; South Island - Dunedin, Central Otago and Southland). Each satellite site has a designated kaiako (Midwifery lecturer) who provides support and runs face-to-face hui ākonga.

What your learning looks like

1. Weekly hui ākonga: Weekly face-to-face tutorials in small groups with your kaiako.

2. Online learning: A mix of online tutorials and lecturers, both with your class and self-directed.

3. Practical experience: Hospital shifts and community-based midwifery experience.

4. Wānanga: Intensive block courses held on campus in Dunedin and the Kāpiti Coast (Porirua).

Programme structure by year

Year one

Practice experience starts early in year one where you will follow up to five whānau through their childbirth experiences. You will also complete 21 shifts in a maternity facility/ies across the year. The shifts will be a mixture of day, afternoon, and night shifts. Shifts may be in the antenatal and post-natal ward/s and/or birthing units depending on the hospital. There are five, one-week wānanga in year one.

Year two

Second-year ākonga (students) follow a community-based, case loading midwife for two weeks, then follow six women in the midwife’s caseload. They also complete 24 shifts in antenatal and post-natal wards and birthing units. Additional shifts may be undertaken in NICU, SCBU, Family Planning, breastfeeding support, and other women and child health areas. Placements will depend on the availability of services in each area. There are five, one-week wānanga in year two.

Year three (final year)

Third-year ākonga (students) complete 33 weeks of placements with midwives in both community and hospital environments. Up to three of these practise placements will be away from your home area. There are three, one-week wānanga in year three.

Wānanga

In total, there are five, one-week wānanga in both year one and year two, and three, one-week wānanga in year three. These are held at Whitireia Porirua campus in the North Island or at the Otago Polytechnic Dunedin campus in the South Island.

Workload

Time commitment

Midwifery is a very rewarding, but very demanding study programme.

This is the equivalent of a four-year degree taught in three years, so the academic expectations and the demands of practice placements in this programme will have an impact on your family and personal life.

Before you apply, we recommend that you have a discussion with your whānau/family about how they can support you to succeed in this programme.

The information below should give you a good idea of what to expect when you study this programme.

Study	Time
	3-year programme 45 programme weeks at an average of 35.5 hours per week a minimum of *4800 total programme hours (480 credits): a minimum of 2400 midwifery practice hours (240 credits) (1280 hours or 128 credits minimum in Year Three) AND a minimum of 1920 theory hours (192 credits)**
Year one	three 15-week trimesters and 7 weeks of break per year There are 5 compulsory intensives in Year One
Year two	three 15-week trimesters and 7 weeks of break per year There are 5 compulsory intensives in Year Two
Year three	individual placement schedule. Provides 33 weeks of midwifery practice experience at an average of 35.5 hours per week. There are 3 compulsory intensives in Year Three

Placements

Placements last from 4 to 14 weeks. Travel and accommodation will be extra costs on top of your programme fees (see Fees section for more info).

Year one
Orientation	All students are required to travel to Dunedin for the first week of the course. You will also attend a noho marae.	Costs will involve flights, accommodation, transportation and food. We will provide details once you have been accepted to our programme.
Midwifery Practice Placements	Year One students (especially in rural areas) will need to travel to main centres with some clients, and for specific midwifery practice placements	Extra costs of travel, accommodation and child care. Petrol and accommodation will add up over the three years of the programme.
Year two
Midwifery Practice Placements	All students will need to leave their home location from time to time to access appropriate experience.	Extra costs of travel, accommodation and child care.
Year three
Midwifery Practice Placements	Year Three placements are individually negotiated but students should plan for at least two placements away from their home location.	Please plan for travel and accommodation costs of these placements. Main centre placements are contestable and students who live in main centres will be required to leave for at least one placement.

Studying part-time

You can choose to study part-time over four years at any of our locations. If you choose this option, you will:

only do theory in Year One (not practice)
complete the Year One practice and Year Two theory in Year Two
complete Year Two practice in Year Three, and
then your final year must be full-time.

Please note that this part-time pathway will mean that you don’t qualify for Studylink funding in Year One (Studylink funding is for domestic students only during this programme).

There is some limited flexibility in the first three years of this study path depending on your personal circumstances; our Student Advisor will contact the successful applicants who have requested part time study in the month before orientation.

If you’re keen to find out more, please email our Student Advisor – Midwifery@op.ac.nz or phone 0800 786 762 and ask to speak with the School of Midwifery about studying part-time.

Entry

Entry requirements

Academic requirements

University Entrance as defined by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, consisting of:
NCEA Level 3:
- a minimum of 18 credits at Level 3 in biology, chemistry or physics
- a minimum of 16 credits at Level 3 in an English language rich subject (such as English, history, art history, classical studies, geography, economics or media studies)
- a further 16 credits at Level 3 or higher in two approved subjects on the National Qualifications Framework
20 credits at Level 2, including
- a minimum of 16 credits in biology
- and a further 16 credits in chemistry or physics
16 credits in another Level 2 subject
Literacy – 10 credits at Level 2 or above, made up of:
- 5 credits in reading, and
- 5 credits in writing
Numeracy - 10 credits at Level 1 or above, made up of:
- specified achievement standards available through a range of subjects, or
- unit standards (26623, 26626, 26627 – all three required).

For those over 20

Evidence of academic equivalence of the above qualifications, or
Demonstrated evidence of ability to study successfully at degree-level.

English Language requirements

If English is not your first language, you must complete an assessment of your English Language and pass the required standard.

You need either an:

Overall Academic IELTS of 7.0, with scores in the following areas:
- Comprehension band 6.5
- Writing band 6.5
- Speaking band 7.0
- Listening band 7.0

Occupational English Test (OET) with passes at A or B in the four areas.

Scores for both IELTS and OET assessments must be achieved in one sitting.

Evidence of successful completion must be provided at the time of application. If you believe that you should be exempt from this requirement, please contact the Midwifery Council by emailing info@midwiferycouncil.health.nz. Any exemptions are at the discretion of the Midwifery Council and applicants must provide written proof of exemption or IELTs results to be accepted to the Bachelor of Midwifery.

Applicants with Te Reo as their first language should contact the Midwifery Council of New Zealand.

Additional entry criteria

You must also:

provide testimony of two referees who can attest to your suitability to train as a midwife. One referee report should be provided by an employer or community group representative and the other must be from someone who can comment on your academic ability. Referees must be people of standing in the community who are not friends or relatives of the applicant. If you have not studied in the last five years a second professional referee may be contacted instead of an academic referee.
submit your Curriculum Vitae and an essay (essay instructions included in Completing your application section below) demonstrating your commitment to midwifery and any life experience relevant to midwifery and/or women’s health.
demonstrate self-responsibility in relation to learning and practice and the personal qualities appropriate for midwifery practice such as strong communication skills and a demonstrated interest in women's health.
provide a current comprehensive or standard First Aid Certificate, including proficiency in CPR (NQF unit standards 6401 and 6402 or equivalent).
demonstrate that you have good health and good character via a medical report/health declaration, and identity confirmation
provide a conviction declaration and permission for a Police Check to ensure you meet the requirements of the Children's Act 2014.
provide a copy of your full driver’s licence and have access to a vehicle for on-call practice.
have good computer skills.

Please note: Registered health practitioners from other disciplines who seek Recognition of Prior Learning on the basis of their health professional qualification and practice experience must hold registration with the relevant regulator authority in New Zealand and provide a Certificate of Good Standing from that authority.

Registered Nurse pathway

If you're a Registered Nurse who's interested in transitioning into a career in midwifery, we've developed a pathway programme just for you. Find out more.

Don't meet the entry requirements?

Our Health Bridging Certificate acts as a bridging programme into this midwifery qualification.

A minimum B+/75 average pass, achieved across four courses during semester two, is required to meet the academic entry requirements into the Bachelor of Midwifery. This MUST include a B+/75 in Bioscience 2.

The Health Bridging Certificate is also ideal if you need to update specific knowledge and skills, and demonstrate your academic ability. Distance options are available.

Please note: Due to the high demand for places, successful completion of the Health Bridging Certificate (Level 4) will not automatically guarantee you entry into the Bachelor of Midwifery programme.

Covid-19 vaccination information

You don’t need to supply evidence of your Covid-19 vaccination status to apply for this programme. However, most placement providers will require evidence from you that you are fully vaccinated before allowing you to complete a placement at their organisation. Placements are an integral part of this programme and you’ll need to complete these to be able to successfully achieve your qualification.

Other risks and information

The nature of midwifery practice means that, at times, you may be at risk of:

Physical injuries that may occur as a result of hazards in the classroom, laboratory or practice setting
Allergic reactions through contact with latex, exposure to drugs or chemicals
Issues affecting your emotional and physical wellbeing
Infection or cross-infection through contact with infective agents in the laboratory or practice setting.

Once you have been accepted into the programme, you will be notified that you must produce current evidence of immunisation status. Immunisation status is determined by a blood test and your vaccination history.

How we manage these risks

We will provide health and safety information relating to computer use and to practice equipment, and advise you how to reduce any risk of injury. You will have access to copies of relevant hazards registers and processes for reporting accidents and injuries so our Health and Safety Officers can follow them up.

You are required to undergo screening tests for infectious diseases and immune status prior to the commencement of the programme.

Fees

Domestic fees

First year

Standard

$11,806

First year

Registered Nurse pathway

$1,732

Second year

Standard

$11,812

Third year

Standard

$12,165

International fees

First year

Standard

$37,333

Second year

Standard

$37,333

Third year

Standard

$37,333

Scholarship for Māori applicants

The Irihapeti Ramsden Memorial Midwifery Scholarship offers fees subsidies to one Māori midwifery student accepted for this degree each year. Nga Maia facilitates provision of whanau support for the Scholarship recipients during their studies. Applications are submitted to Nga Maia at the start of the academic year and the scholarship is awarded before June of applicants’ first year of study.

Find out more

Additional costs

There are a number of additional costs for this programme. All the costs quoted are approximate. Please also see the Workload section (Placements information) for additional information about travel and accommodation costs.

Items	Cost
Year one
Pinard Stethoscope	Approximately $7- $20.00
Sphygmomanometer	Approximately $80.00 - $90.00
Stethoscope	Approximately $90.00 (average quality)
Suturing Set 1 toothed tissue dissecting forcep with a ribbed or serrated mouth 1 pair of scissors (one sharp and one blunt end) 1 needle holder (8-inch length) 1 artery forcep (preferred but not essential)	Approximately $50
Textbooks	Approximately $900
Cellphone & WiFi
Car and Driver’s Licence
Immunisations – DHB requirement	Up to $300 (depending on provider).
Laptop or Personal Computer	Computers can be PC or Mac but must be internet ready and have Microsoft Office applications. Laptops MUST HAVE either a built-in microphone or a headset and microphone.
Year two
Textbooks	Approximately $700
Year three
National Midwifery Exam fee	Approximately $200 paid directly to the Midwifery Council of New Zealand.
Midwifery Council application for registration fee	Approximately $200 paid directly to the Midwifery Council of New Zealand.

Multi-year fees

The tuition fees shown above are approximate only. There may be a slight fee increase per year once Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) rules and guidelines are applied. These fees also don’t include additional costs or living costs.

Application

Completing your application

Before you apply, ensure you understand the application process and all the requirements you need to meet.

You can enter information and upload documents directly into the application form. You may wish to prepare some of the required documentation beforehand.

To begin your application, click the Apply button at the top of this page.

You will need to provide:

Copies of all of your official tertiary transcripts (including those which don't relate to Midwifery).
Your Curriculum Vitae.
An essay (1800 to 2200 words), answering the following:
1. why you want to be a midwife.
2. the qualities you bring to the midwifery profession in Aotearoa New Zealand.
3. your life experiences relevant to a career in women's health. (Do not give details of personal birth experiences).
4. the role and relevance of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Aotearoa New Zealand.
5. the demands, as you understand them, of being a midwifery student in our blended programme.
6. your plan to manage the social, academic and financial demands of this course.
A First Aid Certificate which includes CPR (or confirmation of booking).
a copy of the front and back of your full driver licence (or restricted licence with an explanation of how you will meet demands of the programme until you have a full licence).
A health declaration.
A conviction declaration and permission for a Police Check to ensure you meet the requirements of the Children's Act 2014.
Contact details for two referees - (one academic and one employer - if you have not studied in the last five years, two professional referees can be considered. If you are not currently employed, a referee from community engagement i.e. Playcentre can be considered instead of an employer. Family friends are not a suitable referee).
Certified copies of proof of identity.
Proof of residency (where appropriate).
Evidence of your Covid-19 vaccinations (you need to have had three doses).

Initial selection decisions will be made in late September. Applicants who complete their applications after 20th September can expect to hear our decision in four-six weeks.

Get in touch

0800 762 786

International +64 3 477 3014

Email: info@op.ac.nz

https://www.op.ac.nz/programmes/nzqa/bachelor-of-midwifery/