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Midwife

Midwives provide care and support to women and their families while pregnant, throughout labour and during the period after a baby’s birth. 

Working life 

You’ll mainly deal with pregnant women requiring professional support and advice. You are likely to be the lead health professional and contact for a woman, providing evidence-based information and helping her make informed choices about the options and services available throughout her pregnancy.  

Download transcript [1].

You’ll be the expert on childbirth and your responsibilities are likely to be diverse. You’ll provide: 

  • provide full antenatal care, including parenting classes, clinical examinations and screening
  • identify high-risk pregnancies
  • monitor women and support them during labour and the birthing process 
  • teach new and expectant mothers how to feed, care for and bathe their babies 

You could be working with women from a variety of backgrounds and you will need to be confident enough to communicate with different people. Some women and their families might be homeless, socially excluded, have disabilities or be very young. Other clients may be from certain cultural or religious backgrounds.  

All women will need you to understand the emotional, physical and psychological processes of pregnancy and birth. Sometimes pregnancies do not go to plan and you will need to offer support and advice on stillbirth, miscarriage, termination, neonatal [2] death and neonatal [2] abnormalities. 

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If you are working as a community midwife, you are likely to develop good professional relationships with your families, which can make counselling easier at difficult times.

"Experiencing the birth of a baby as part of your day job is incredible."

Eleri Bates, Midiwfe at  University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust

Read Eleri's story  [3]

Where will I work? 

Midwifery services are increasingly moving from hospitals to the community, so where you work could reflect this.  Antenatal care in the community is provided in women’s homes, local clinics, children’s centres and GP surgeries. It can also be provided in hospitals where you may work in triage and assessment areas, high and low risk labour, postnatal wards and neonatal [2] units. Care during labour is provided in a mother’s home, as well as midwifery led maternity units.

You’ll work with a range of other professionals including gynaecologists, GPs, health visitors, neonatal nurses and maternity support workers.

Entry requirements

To become a midwife you’ll need to train and study for an undergraduate degree or postgraduate degree or diploma, or secure a place on a midwifery degree apprenticeship. Entry requirements vary depending on where you’d like to study or work. However, they usually look for a minimum of:

Midwifery services are increasingly moving from hospitals to the community.

  • five GCSEs at grade 9-4/C or above - typically including English language or literature and a science subject
  • and either two or three A-levels or equivalent qualifications such as GNVQ advanced level or NVQ level 3

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.

New annual payments 

You'll be entitled to receive at least £5,000 a year towards your studies while at university. Your personal circumstances may mean you could receive more. And the good news? You'll never have to pay it back.

Must have skills

Don’t forget - academic qualifications aren’t everything. Excellent communcation and people skills are crucial as you'll need to answer questions and offer advice. You must be happy to work as part of a team and be able to deal with emotionally charged situations. You'll need to also have an interest in the physical, psychological and process of pregnancy and birth

Training and career development 

You'll need to be committed to learning and always keeping their skills and knowledge up to date. Once you have qualified as a midwife, there are a wide range of opportunities. You may want to undertake further training and become a health visitor or move into management, teaching or clinical research.

Pay and benefits

Your standard working week will be around 37.5 hours on shift pattern which can include nights, early starts, evenings, weekends and bank holidays.  As a midwife, you’ll be paid on the Agenda for Change (AFC [4]) pay system, typically starting at band 5. There are opportunities to progress to positions at bands 6 and & as a team manager and to midwife consultant at bands 8b-8c.

You’ll also have access to our generous pension scheme and health service discounts, as well as 27 days of annual leave plus bank holidays.

  • Live vacancies
    • View Vacancy [5]

      Community Midwifery Deputy Team Manager

      Nottingham, NG7 7AD

      • Salary:

        £31365.00 to £37890.00 a year

      • Type:

        Permanent

      • Employer:

        Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

      • View Vacancy
    • View Vacancy [6]

      Lead Care Coach Recruitment & Retention of Nursing/Midwifery Assistant

      Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6QG

      • Salary:

        £38890.00 to £44503.00 a year

      • Type:

        Fixed term

      • Employer:

        University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

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    • View Vacancy [7]

      Midwife

      Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 9DT

      • Salary:

        £24,907 - £37,890 per annum pro rata

      • Type:

        Permanent

      • Employer:

        Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board

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    • View Vacancy [8]

      Midwife

      Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS

      • Salary:

        £37,638 - £44,780 per annum, inc HCA

      • Type:

        Permanent

      • Employer:

        King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

      • View Vacancy
    • View Vacancy [9]

      Midwife

      Basildon Maternity, Basildon, SS16 5NL

      • Salary:

        £31,365 - £37,890 per annum

      • Type:

        Permanent

      • Employer:

        Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

      • View Vacancy
    • View Vacancy [10]

      Midwife

      All, Harrow, HA1 3UJ

      • Salary:

        £43,712 - £49,325 per annum inc HCAS

      • Type:

        Permanent

      • Employer:

        London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

      • View Vacancy
  • Find your course to become a midwife
    Displaying 1 - 5 of 78 matches

    BM (Hons) Midwifery

    Bangor, University of Wales

    View course Opens in a new window
    [11]

    Region
    Wales

    Type of course
    Undergraduate

    Full or part time
    Full time

    Duration
    3 years

    Contact details
    health@bangor.ac.uk [12] 01248 383717

    Course webpage
    http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/B720-Midwifery [11]

    Admissions address

    Bangor
    Gwynedd
    LL57 2EF

    Course webpage
    http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/B720-Midwifery [11]

    BSc (Hons) Midwifery

    Teesside University

    View course Opens in a new window
    [13]

    Region
    North East

    Type of course
    Undergraduate

    Full or part time
    Full time

    Duration
    3 years

    Contact details
    shlsadmissions@tees.ac.uk [14] 01642 384110

    Course webpage
    http://www.tees.ac.uk/prospectus/ug/UG_course.cfm [15]

    Admissions address

    Middlesbrough
    Tees Valley
    TS1 3BA

    Course webpage
    http://www.tees.ac.uk/prospectus/ug/UG_course.cfm [15]

    Bachelor of Midwifery (Hons)

    South Wales, University of

    View course Opens in a new window
    [16]

    Region
    Wales

    Type of course
    Undergraduate

    Full or part time
    Full time

    Duration
    3 years

    Contact details
    admissions@southwales.ac.uk [17] 03455 76 77 78

    Course webpage
    http://courses.southwales.ac.uk/courses/33-bachelor-of-midwifery-hons-registered… [16]

    Admissions address

    Pontypridd
    CF37 1DL

    Course webpage
    http://courses.southwales.ac.uk/courses/33-bachelor-of-midwifery-hons-registered… [16]

    BSc (Hons) Midwifery for registered adult nurses

    UCLan, University of Central Lancashire

    View course Opens in a new window
    [18]

    Region
    North West

    Type of course
    Postgraduate/accelerated programme

    Full or part time
    Full time

    Duration
    20 months

    Contact details
    cenquiries@uclan.ac.uk [19] 01772 892400

    Course webpage
    http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bsc_hons_midwifery_for_registered_nurses_adult.ph… [18]

    Admissions address

    Preston
    Lancashire
    PR1 2HE

    Course webpage
    http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bsc_hons_midwifery_for_registered_nurses_adult.ph… [18]

    This course is for qualified and registered adult nurses. Please contact the university for more details.

    BSc (Hons) Midwifery

    UCLan, University of Central Lancashire

    View course Opens in a new window
    [20]

    Region
    North West

    Type of course
    Undergraduate

    Full or part time
    Full time

    Duration
    3 years

    Contact details
    cenquiries@uclan.ac.uk [19] 01772 892400

    Course webpage
    http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bsc_hons_midwifery_direct_entry_programme.php [20]

    Admissions address

    Preston
    Lancashire
    PR1 2HE

    Course webpage
    http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bsc_hons_midwifery_direct_entry_programme.php [20]

    • Load more [21]

Other roles that may interest you

  • Maternity support worker [22]
  • Obstetrics and gynaecology [23]
  • Health visitor [24]
  • Neonatal nurse [25]

Source URL: https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/midwifery/roles-midwifery/midwife

Links
[1] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/about/resources/midwifery-video-transcript
[2] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/glossary#Neonatal
[3] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/midwifery/midwife/real-life-story-eleri-bates
[4] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/glossary#AfC
[5] https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/916406153
[6] https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/916410372
[7] https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/916401556
[8] https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/916384814
[9] https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/916398264
[10] https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/916403258
[11] http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/B720-Midwifery
[12] mailto: health@bangor.ac.uk
[13] http://www.tees.ac.uk/prospectus/ug/UG_course.cfm?courseid=138&fos=9&fossub=25
[14] mailto: shlsadmissions@tees.ac.uk
[15] http://www.tees.ac.uk/prospectus/ug/UG_course.cfm?courseid=138&fos=9&fossub=25
[16] http://courses.southwales.ac.uk/courses/33-bachelor-of-midwifery-hons-registered-midwife
[17] mailto: admissions@southwales.ac.uk
[18] http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bsc_hons_midwifery_for_registered_nurses_adult.php
[19] mailto: cenquiries@uclan.ac.uk
[20] http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bsc_hons_midwifery_direct_entry_programme.php
[21] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/print/198?page=1
[22] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/healthcare-support-worker/roles-healthcare-support-worker/maternity-support-worker
[23] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/doctors/roles-doctors/obstetrics-and-gynaecology
[24] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/public-health/roles-public-health/health-visitor
[25] https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/nursing/roles-nursing/neonatal-nurse