Midwives are registered clinical professionals who support pregnant people and their babies before, during and after childbirth.
As a midwife, you can work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, women's homes, children's centres, GP surgeries and midwifery-led maternity units. You may even provide care during labour for people at home.
Career progression
There are various routes into midwifery roles, whether you are new-to-care, or looking to change roles from nursing or another clinical profession. You can visit the midwifery career education framework page to learn more about what skills and qualifications you need to start or progress in your career in midwifery.
You can become a midwife either through a midwifery degree or by undertaking qualifications while you work through apprenticeships. Either way, you must achieve registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to get a job as a midwife.
Pre-midwifery pathways start from band 2 or 3 Maternity Care Assistant and go up to band 9 Executive Director of Midwifery or Chief Midwife.
“Banding” such as band 3, is a way to categorize employees based on their qualifications, experience, and level of responsibility. There are nine bands, from 1 to 9, (from December 2018, band 1 was closed to new starters) with each band having multiple pay points.
Employees typically incrementally move up to the next pay point until they reach the top of their band.