MDWF12007 - Professional Midwifery Practice: Legal and Ethical Frameworks

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will explore the role and scope of the midwife and the legal and ethical parameters framing midwifery practice. You will explore the philosophical and historical contexts underpinning the midwifery profession including the discourses that influence women's decision making in relation to their care. Legal and ethical parameters framing midwifery practice and their importance to professional accountability will be critically examined; specifically the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA), the Midwife Standards for Practice and Code of Conduct for Midwives, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) International Code of Ethics for Midwives and other relevant Australian legislation. You will also be introduced to the Australian maternity services, models of midwifery care available, and the provision of inclusive culturally safe practice.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites Co-requisite:  MDWF12003 Midwifery Practice 1

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2025

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Group Discussion 30%
2. Critical Review 30%
3. Portfolio 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 75.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 18.18% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student zoom session
Feedback
I enjoyed the discussion forums. These were very topical and raised questions about how to remain woman-centred when facing ethical dilemmas. I really appreciated how it made me think about the woman and also my own student scope of practice, but there were a lot of forums which added to my stress.
Recommendation
Continue to provide engaging and thought-provoking topics that align with legal and ethical dilemmas in contemporary midwifery practice, stimulating student interest. Consider reducing the number of discussion topics across the term.
Action Taken
The assessment task which required students to engage in discussions on the Moodle discussion board has been retained. The number of discussion topics was not reduced, as the unit coordinator was not aware of this previous feedback item. This will be reviewed prior to the next offering of the unit.
Source: Moodle
Feedback
The written assessments are linked together and this helped me to complete assessments in a timely way.
Recommendation
The unit coordinator will continue to provide structured assessments to improve understanding of theoretical concepts and demonstrate the application of legal and ethical frameworks to midwifery practice.
Action Taken
The assessment structure was retained.
Source: Informal feedback provided to the unit coordinator via conversations with multiple students.
Feedback
The group discussion assessment required students to post on the discussion board in response to four prompts provided in the assessment instructions. Students stated that there were too many topics, and they felt as though they had too many due dates.
Recommendation
Although the recommended word count for the assessment aligns with its weighting, dividing the task across four due dates may increase pressure and cognitive load for students. It is recommended that the number of required prompts and posts be reduced from four to three. Handover between Unit Coordinators regarding this adjustment should occur if needed.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE data.
Feedback
The assignments were too close together, otherwise, an enjoyable subject.
Recommendation
The official due dates for the three assessments in this unit were appropriately spaced; however, the informal deadlines for the four discussion board posts may have contributed to a perception that the due dates were close together. It is recommended that the required number of prompts and posts be reduced from four to three.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE data.
Feedback
Having more than news articles which can be extremely biased to base assignments on. Allowing us to see the actual facts of the case.
Recommendation
Students were required to explore the legal and ethical issues in a real-world maternity care scenario, presented through actual media publications. A key purpose of this assessment was for students to apply their knowledge of law, ethics, and midwifery practice to identify the relevant facts and issues themselves, rather than having them provided. Nonetheless, alternative sources of real-world maternity care scenarios can be considered for future offerings.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Apply the historical, philosophical, legal, and ethical concepts applicable to midwifery practice and their relationship to the professional scope of the registered midwife
  2. Analyse professional accountability in relation to the responsibilities and obligations of the midwife
  3. Explore the different models of maternity care and the professional discourses that influence women's decision making in relation to their care
  4. Integrate effective, culturally safe, and inclusive ethical decision making within the midwifery profession.

Content in this unit incorporates a number of professional requirements including the following:

The draft ANMAC Midwifery Education Standards (2020).

Standard 1 Safety of the public.

Standard 3 Program of study.

Standard 5: Student assessment.

The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (2017).

Clinical governance.

Partnering with consumers.

Preventing and controlling healthcare-associated infection.

Medication safety.

Comprehensive care.

Communicating for safety.

The NMBA Midwife Standards for Practice (2018).

Standard 1: Promotes evidence-based maternal health and wellbeing.

Standard 2: Engages in respectful partnerships and professional relationships.

Standard 3: Demonstrates the capability and accountability for midwifery practice.

Standard 5: Develops plans for midwifery practice.

Standard 6: Provides safe and quality midwifery practice.

The NMBA Code of Conduct for Midwives (2018).

Principle 1: Legal Compliance

Principle 2: Woman-centred practice.

Principle 3: Cultural practice and respectful relationships.

Principle 4: Professional behaviour.

Principle 7: Health and wellbeing.

The International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Code of Ethics for Midwives (2014).

Midwifery relationships.

Practice of midwifery.

Professional responsibilities of midwives.

Advancement of midwifery knowledge and practice.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Group Discussion • • •
2 - Critical Review • •
3 - Portfolio • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
5 - Team Work •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • •
8 - Ethical practice • • • •
9 - Social Innovation •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Group Discussion • • • • • • • •
2 - Critical Review • • • • • •
3 - Portfolio • • • • • • • •