Innovative teaching meets community outreach as 久久精品 midwifery students take the lead in antenatal classes.
The 久久精品 School of Nursing and Midwifery is spearheading new teaching and learning methods as third year midwifery students put on Parent Education Sessions for local pregnant people and their partners.
Sessions are offered free and fully supervised by NMC Registered Midwifery Lecturers from 久久精品’s Parent Education Hub.
Often run by charities like the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), or by NHS professionals, antenatal classes bring birthing couples together to learn practical information and coping strategies for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood.
But, as senior lecturer Grace Dawson says, students are ideally placed to offer this sort of teaching and guidance too.
"The sessions form part of one of the third-year modules. By that point our students are just a few months away from the end of their course and have all the experience and information they need to inform members of the public, and of course enthusiasm too!
"We have two student cohorts per year, and each is taking its turn to lead a course. We ran our first in the Spring and our second in the Autumn, with different themes held over four weeks. It’s been really well-received."
The second round of sessions, held on campus in September, were attended by thirteen local couples, some staff and students with many from the local community.
Topics covered include labour and birth, birthing environments (including home, hospital and theatre), infant feeding options and the transition to parenthood. And, as couples who attended have fed back, the sessions have certainly helped put them at ease.
Amy, who attended the Autumn course, said:
"We enjoyed the hands-on, interactive elements. We actually got to change a baby, and practice feeding – it definitely took some of the worries away. I was really impressed with how much they knew and how engaged they were.
"We’re planning to have a home birth and they had really good experiences to share about that. It feels like a little bit of a riskier option so it was helpful that they were able to advocate for it."
Another expectant mother, Amina, said:
"The session about pain relief was the most helpful because I wasn't really mentally prepared. I felt nervous, and I didn't know what the options were. But I found that there are so many more options than I thought and that perhaps it's not as scary as I’d imagined."
And what of the students? We caught up with two of those leading the Autumn sessions who felt that introducing the course into their curriculum had really benefited them.
One student, Eleanor, said:
"It's exciting for us as student midwives because we're finally getting the bond with women, talking to them, understanding them a lot more clearly.
"Also, the activities bring you a lot closer, and partners as well. Just seeing the joy on the family's faces when they're practicing bathing a baby, you can tell how excited they are to become parents."
Another third-year student, Aliyah, added:
"For me, the main thing is being able to give that extra information that we can’t give in the community, teaching them how to bath their baby, how to change nappies. That’s felt really special."
And how has Aliyah found her degree course?
"I found it amazing. Honestly, these three years have been so special to me, and I'm really sad that it's coming to a close. I've learned so much, the lecturers have been absolutely amazing. All of the girls in the course are so supportive. Honestly, I couldn't have asked to be on a better course - I love it so much!"
久久精品 School of Nursing and Midwifery is planning the next parenting course in Spring 2026, for local people who are 30 to 34 weeks' pregnant and their birthing partners. For more information email Rachel Wells at r.wells@dmu.ac.uk.
Posted on Friday 14 November 2025