Learn How to Become a Midwife
If the flexibility of midwifery appeals to you, why not take our online quiz and see whether a career as a midwife really is for you?
Where do Midwives work?
Once your student days are behind you and getting into uni becomes a distant memory, you have another mountain to climb: getting a job as a midwife.
This section is relevant whether you are applying for your first job post-qualifying or are hoping to move jobs after having a few years of your career under your belt.
So who can you work for?
National Health Service (NHS)
Most midwives who train in the UK will work within the NHS. Working in the NHS provides career development and flexible working conditions. You will experience a wide range of midwifery working models and you may choose to specialise within a particular area. There are opportunities to move into research, education, consultant midwifery, leadership, management or practice development.
You will be paid under the Agenda for Change pay scale. As a newly qualified midwife you will be a band 5 (16) with pay starting from £23,023* per annum. Correct as of 2019
Independent/ Private midwives
If a role in the NHS isn’t what you are looking for you can choose to work independently in a self-employed capacity. Independent midwives perform the same antenatal and postnatal observations. A majority of the independent births are homebirth, but they can also be planned hospital births. Independent midwives are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and subject to the same supervision as NHS midwives.
IMUK is the organisation for independent midwives in the UK. All midwives work autonomously and support women based on evidence, give one-to-one care and a model that suits the woman and their family.
The role of the independent midwife provides care during pregnancy, intrapartum and postnatal periods.
How to find out about latest midwife job vacancies
We have an up to date Midwife Job Board covering the NHS and private sector. Here you can find which posts have been advertised on a daily basis and find out which jobs have not reached their closing date yet.
Overseas
As a midwife qualified in the UK, you will realise that the world is your oyster. To practice outside of the UK as a midwife you will need to register with the relevant licensing or registration board in that country. Some will request a verification certificate from the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), which is a £34 fee. The certificate will confirm when you went onto the register, your current status and expiry.
There are many recruitment agencies that advertise midwife jobs abroad and the most popular places for UK midwives to work include:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Dubai
- Qatar
- Abu Dhabi
Volunteering
Once you have experience, commonly 2 years, you could choose to volunteer. From 6 weeks to 2 year placements, you may be involved with teaching, mentoring and managing.
Popular volunteering website include:
VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas)
MSF (Medecins sans Frontieres)
You may also choose to volunteer as a student midwife as part of your elective placement or prior to applying to be a student to gain valuable experience to support later job application processes. There are websites that will support you, or some people contact hospitals directly.
To get your first, or a new midwife job you will need to go through a selection process. This is to determine which applicant is the best for the job.
