Clinical Placements

The Postgraduate Diploma of Midwifery at Charles Sturt University is designed so registered nurses may work in a maternity unit for 12 months of clinical practice with the theoretical component studied concurrently by distance education.

Registered nurses must negotiate a position in a maternity unit of their choice. This unit is required to be accredited by the University as a partnership hospital for the purposes of midwifery education.

More than 60 maternity units across Australia provide midwifery clinical education to CSU students, offering them a holistic experience whereby they care for the same woman throughout her pregnancy, birth and early parenting period.

The hospitals select their own student midwives from the registered nurses who apply for the positions.  As students, they are paid a wage and are able to access scholarships which helps to relieve the financial burden that accompanies study.

Upon successful completion of the two components (clinical practice and academic study), students are eligible to apply for registration as a midwife with the NMB NSW (Nurses and Midwives Board of NSW). Students studying interstate then apply for reciprocal registration in that state.

The clinical placement includes the following theoretical and practical components:

• Six subjects of study over 12 months
• An opportunity for maternity units to select their own students and provide them with 0.8 of a full-time employment as a student midwife
• The allocation of minimum clinical hours for each midwifery setting:
  • birthing: 16 weeks
  • special care nursery: 8 weeks
  • postnatal care: 10 weeks
  • antenatal care: 8 weeks
• Two compulsory residential schools at CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus