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Becoming a midwife gives you access to a broader range of career options than you may initially suspect. You will have the qualification and experience to develop your career to where you are most interested, this may include:
 
 

A diverse career path

Your midwife qualification and experience will give you a wide range of options to progress your career beyond the role you may start in post-qualifying. There are opportunities to work in a variety of settings including labour ward, in the community, birth centres, local clinics, children’s centres. With experience you may choose to specialise to work permanently in one setting, or decide to go into an educational, research or management role. You could also move into different professions including health visiting or neonatal nursing.

You could also train to be a consultant midwife, who are central to modernising the health service. A consultant midwife will specialise in practice development, research, develop education, training and development. Each consultant midwife role will vary between each trust depending on the needs of the employer.

Not just the NHS

Being a Midwife is a universal career, you could literally work anywhere in the world.

A majority of midwives in the UK work in the NHS, but there are also options to work independently, in a private hospital, internationally or to volunteer abroad.

Most midwives work shifts including early starts, late finishes, long shifts and night shifts, including weekends and on call rotas.

Salaries

Pay in the NHS is determined by NHS Agenda for Change with a newly qualified midwife salary starting at £21,288 per year excluding unsocial or on call hours. A midwife has the potential to earn £80,000 per year as a senior manager or midwife consultant.