Midwife: job description

What does a midwife do? Graduate salaries | Typical employers | Qualifications and training | Key skills

Midwives support women and their families through pregnancy and labour and in the time immediately after birth. They work in a range of settings, including expectant women’s homes, local clinics, hospitals, midwifery-led maternity units and GP surgeries. They are part of a team of professional and medical staff that includes doctors, social workers, neonatal nurses and health visitors. Midwives may be assisted by maternity support workers and be responsible for supervising them.

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

Midwives may work on a rota and be on call to provide care on a 24-hour basis.

Graduate salaries

Salaries for midwives vary depending on seniority and location. For an entry-level job, you would expect to start at band 5 (around £30,000 to £37,000). An experienced midwife would be on band 6. In London you would earn £40,000 upwards, while elsewhere in England and Wales salaries would be from around £35,000 to around £42,000. In NHS Scotland, a band 6 role could earn you from around £37,000 to around £46,000) while a job with supervisory duties would be in band 7 (from around £46,244 to £53,000).

Typical employers of midwives

• National Health Service (NHS)
• GP practices
• Private hospitals
• The armed forces
• Independent practices

For vacancies, you could look at the websites for NHS Jobs and NHS Scotland Recruitment, or other related recruitment websites such as Midwives Jobs.

Qualifications and training required

You can only become a midwife with an approved midwifery degree that leads to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). You apply for full-time midwifery degree courses through UCAS and are likely to need three A levels or equivalent qualifications. Preferred subjects may include biology or a social science. Courses last for three years and include a mix of university study and practical experience.

Alternatively, you could carry out a midwifery degree apprenticeship.

Key skills for midwives

• Ability to deal with emotionally charged situations
• Excellent teamworking skills
• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Strong observational skills
• An interest in the process of pregnancy and birth
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Ability to work and communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds
• Ability to follow instructions and procedures
• A caring and patient approach

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