Midwife Job Description: Top Duties and Qualifications

A Midwife provides prenatal and early postnatal advice, care and support for women and also assists them during labour. Their duties include monitoring and examining women during and after pregnancy, providing health education and parental advice and developing individual care programmes.

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Midwife duties and responsibilities

Midwives have a wide range of duties that include education, counselling and medical care. Their exact duties may differ depending on their work environment and position. For instance, a Midwife who focuses on developing educational programmes will have different duties to another who forms part of a midwifery team at an NHS hospital. In general, their main duties and responsibilities include:

  • Providing complete prenatal care, including screening tests, and also postnatal visits for up to 10 days
  • Identifying high-risk pregnancies and referring such patients to the relevant medical specialists
  • Doing routine checkups, such as collecting patients’ samples and taking their blood pressure and temperature
  • Liaising with agencies and other health and social care professionals to ensure that mothers and babies receive continued postnatal support
  • Providing support and counselling to mothers following events like miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal abnormality
  • Providing training and guidance for junior colleagues
  • Running pregnancy and parenting classes and workshops
  • Overseeing and monitoring the labour process and advising mothers on their options to manage pain
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Midwife Job Description Examples:

 

Example 1

As a Fertility Nurse/ Midwife you’ll work closely with patients throughout their journey to coordinate treatment cycles and meet their needs. You’ll be an integral part of a passionate team that strives to further develop and research leading fertility practices to give everyone one the best chance of having a baby.

The Role

  • Assist in the daily running of the fertility clinic, coordinating treatment cycle plans
  • Coach patients to self-administer fertility drugs and obtain consent for treatment
  • Provide information and advice on treatment and emotional support to patients face to face and over the telephone
  • Perform venepuncture
  • Prepare theatre and support with theatre procedures
  • Participate in on-going Quality Management by participating in the undertaking of audits and risk assessments
  • Compliance to legislative and organisational codes of practice

    About you
    You’re a great team player, a real people person, someone who loves helping others. As well as being passionate about patient care, you’ll need the following skills:

  • A qualification as in adult nursing Degree/ Diploma as well as being a registered NMC nurse or midwife is essential
  • Essential to have post registration experience working within fertility/IVF in an acute hospital setting.
  • Desirable but not essential to have experience of gynae/obstetric, theatre experience, venepuncture and ultra-scanning
  • Act as a CARE Fertility ambassador and as a role model as an IVF Nurse and be accountable for own actions
  • A desire for continuous personal and professional development by reading relevant material and attending appropriately identified courses and conferences

    Location/Benefits:
    This is a full-time role working Mon-Fri with some Sats required, based at Park Lorne, 111 Park Rd, London NW8 7JL
    In a company where hard work and great results are recognised, you can look forward to a supportive culture of collaboration where we value each other.

  • Up to £45,000 depending on experience
  • 33 Days annual leave (inc. public holidays)
  • Pension scheme
  • Life assurance
  • A range of flexible benefits to suit your needs.

    About us

    We’re CARE Fertility, we’re the largest private provider of IVF and fertility treatment in the UK.
    We draw on the knowledge of our wider team of over 600 dedicated doctors, embryologists, nurses and support teams who all work together to ensure our patients get the very best fertility treatment.
    At CARE we care, for our patients and for our people. We believe in helping you to reach your full potential.
    If you join CARE, you can look forward to a challenging and rewarding role, with great results bringing great opportunity for recognition and promotion.

    This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check.

    Click    APPLY
  • now to join CARE Type: Full-time
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    What does a Midwife do?

    Midwives are specialist health professionals that support women during pregnancy and birth. They inform women of the options they have during childbirth and help them make sound decisions according to their personal preferences and healthcare needs. They assist women in delivering their babies through natural birth and tend to only use medical procedures when these are necessary. In the instances that medical procedures are required, Midwives are trained and certified to provide these treatments themselves. It’s only when medical complications arise that a Midwife will refer a patient to an Obstetrician.

    Midwife skills and qualifications

    The job of a Midwife involves interacting with people for a considerable part of their working day. Whether they’re counselling patients, running workshops or liaising with other professionals, Midwives need excellent interpersonal and communication skills. They must actively listen to their patients to accurately gauge their needs and must also have the ability to effectively relay information. A successful Midwife candidate will also have various prerequisite skills and qualifications that includes:

    • A caring and empathetic nature to provide mothers and babies with the emotional support they require
    • Excellent decision-making skills to make quick and effective decisions in crises
    • Emotional maturity and resilience to cope with and recover from problematic cases
    • Strong team-working skills, as they often need to collaborate with other professionals
    • Physical fitness and stamina to cope with long and problematic labour processes
    • The ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
    • The ability to build strong and trusting relationships with their patients
    • Strong observational skills to immediately notice complications during labour

    Midwife experience requirements

    The level of experience a Midwife requires depends on the position. Some employers are willing to employ newly qualified midwives, in which case they will typically work under the supervision and guidance of an experienced colleague. However, there are also Midwife positions that require more experienced candidates who have specialised knowledge and clinical expertise.

    Midwife education and training requirements

    To work as a Midwife, candidates need to be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). To register, they first need to complete a midwifery programme that has been approved by the council. These programmes provide candidates with valuable hands-on experience, as they typically include both coursework and practical placements. Registered Nurses who wish to become Midwives can qualify by completing a conversion course. Once a candidate has obtained the relevant qualification, they can apply for registration with the council. Registered Midwives can continue their professional development by completing speciality courses, such as in family planning.

    Midwife salary expectations

    According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for a Midwife in the UK is £36,645 per year. Salaries differ, depending on factors like location and employer.

    Job description samples for similar positions

    If this job description doesn’t adequately describe the job opening you have, here are some job description samples of similar positions to consider:

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    Midwife job description FAQs

    What are the hours of a Midwife?

    Midwives need to be available for their patients whenever they need care, including when they are in labour. For this reason, the job typically involves working unsocial hours, including evenings, over weekends and on bank holidays. Those who work in teams with other Midwives will normally be part of an on-call rota.

    Which institutions and companies can benefit from employing Midwives?

    The typical employers of Midwives include the National Health Service, birth centres, community health centres, private hospitals and independent practices.

    What's the difference between a Doula and a Midwife?

    Both Doulas and Midwives provide educational and emotional support for women during their pregnancies. However, whereas a Midwife is qualified to perform clinical tasks and medical treatments, a Doula only provides support services.

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