What is a midwife?
A midwife is a healthcare professional who helps healthy women during labor, delivery, and after the birth of their babies. A midwife is trained to provide obstetric and gynecological services, including primary care, prenatal and obstetric care, and routine gynecological care like annual exams and contraception.
Types of Midwives
According to NHS, there are two types of midwives:
- Hospital midwives
- Community Midwives
Hospital Midwives
Hospital midwives are part of the hospital’s maternity team, caring for you while you’re in the hospital, whether this is while you’re pregnant, during labour, when you give birth, or immediately after your baby is born.
In other words, hospital midwives are based in a hospital obstetric or consultant unit, a birth center, or a midwife-led unit. They work in the antenatal clinic, labour ward, and postnatal wards.
Community midwives
Community midwives typically work in teams and provide a degree of continuity of care. They provide care in GP practices, in your home or at children’s centers. Community midwives are more likely to work with you throughout your pregnancy, from your first appointment until care is taken over by a health visitor.
Moreover, When you go into labour, they are available for a home birth, or in a few places, they may come into the labour ward in the hospital to be with you. Once your baby is born, they’ll visit you at home for up to 10 days afterward.
Community midwives also provide postnatal care for women who have been looked after during labour by hospital midwives.
Outside NHS there are independent midwives, who work with pregnant women. Typically with women planning a home birth.
Moreover, a doula is not a trained midwife, but is trained to support you before, during, and after your child is born. Doulas are not available on the NHS.
How to become a midwife?
To become a midwife, you must undertake a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) approved degree course and university leading to a midwifery qualification with NMC registration.
In the UK midwifery education and training programs are run only at approved educational institutions (AEIs) by NMC. A midwifery degree is a minimum of three years and 4600 hours split between academic and clinical education. However, if you are already a registered level 1 (adult) nurse, you can undertake a reduced training course of 18 months, for dual registration with NMC.
Midwifery training takes place at NMC-approved educational institutions, with half of the programme based on clinical practice with direct contact with women, their babies and families. This can include the home, community, and hospitals, and in other maternity services such as midwife-led units and birth centers.
A degree standard apprenticeship in midwifery is also available. To get onto a degree apprenticeship, you will need to apply for an apprentice position with a healthcare provider. There are also a few universities in England offering a degree-level apprenticeship. Each university will have its own specific entry criteria, so it is best to check with the individual institution.
Application is through the University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). If you are applying to do the shortened program, you may be able to apply directly to the university. Whichever route you take, you will gain an academic qualification and once you’re registered with the NMC, you’ll be able to practice as a midwife.
Entry can be competitive, and many students have qualifications and experience higher than the minimum requirements.
For further information about the midwifery profession visits https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/
How does the profession of Midwife work?
Midwives help women all over the world during the entire process of giving birth. They work in a variety of settings, including expectant women’s homes, local clinics, hospitals, midwifery-led maternity units and GP surgeries
Typical duties include:
- examining and monitoring pregnant women
- assessing care requirements and writing care plans
- undertaking antenatal care in hospitals, homes and GP practices
- carrying out screening tests
- providing information, emotional support and reassurance to women and their partners
- taking patient samples, pulses, temperatures and blood pressures
- caring for and assisting women in labour
- monitoring and administering medication, injections and intravenous infusions during labour
- monitoring the foetus during labour
- advising about and supporting parents in the daily care of their newborn babies
- helping parents to cope with miscarriage, termination, stillbirth and neonatal death
- writing records
- tutoring student midwives
- identifying high-risk pregnancies
How much a midwife earns in UK?
Salaries for newly qualified midwives for Band 5, start at £25,655. You can then progress to Band 6, which ranges from £32,306 to £39,027. Salaries at Band 7, where you’ll be working at a more senior level, e.g., managing a team, which varies from £40,057 to £45,839.
The bottom line
A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns during childbirth. There are different types of midwives depending on the training and education. A certified professional qualification is required to become a midwife. Midwives perform a variety of functions and provide complete assistance during pregnancy, delivery, and labour.