FOI_26-275 Midwifery programme teaching and Bells Palsy

Date of response: 16 October 2026

We have now considered your request of 13 October 2026 for the following information:

…concerning your current pre-registration midwifery programme(s), as taught in the current (2026/27) academic year.

For the current academic curriculum, please could you tell us:

Question 1. Is Bell’s palsy explicitly included within the teaching provided to pre-registration midwifery students? For this request, please treat Bell’s palsy as including facial palsy, facial nerve palsy/paralysis and any other facial nerve disorder, however it is labelled in your curriculum.

Our response:

Yes. The pre-registration Midwifery programmes teach about crania nerves in ‘advanced assessment and management of the newborn’, how to recognise facial palsy in the infant, what could be the cause, cranial nerve damage and a timeframe of when it should resolve. There is no teaching regarding Bell’s palsy in maternal complications.

Question 2. Does the teaching specifically address Bell’s palsy (or facial nerve palsy) occurring in pregnancy or the postnatal period?

Our response:

No.

Question 3. If the answer to question 1 or 2 is yes, please provide:

• the module(s) or part of the programme in which it is covered;

• the relevant learning outcome, curriculum/module description or other recorded description of this teaching, where available; and

• whether the teaching covers

(a) recognising the condition,

(b) distinguishing it from stroke and other serious causes of facial weakness, and (c) the need for prompt referral and treatment.

Our response:

In the unfolding case study day in the 3rd year, we have a patient with slurred speech, the students must make the decision to complete neurological observations and then escalate to an obstetrician for CT scan and arrange transfer to a specialist hospital.

Question 4. Is Bell’s palsy/facial nerve palsy included in any formal or practical assessment of students?

Our response:

No, but we run an unfolding case study day with the 3rd years where one scenario is a maternal stroke, and the students must assess the patient and have a working diagnosis. They come into hospital via ambulance and assessed in BSOTs and escalated.