Midwifery
Due to the vocational nature of this degree, it is not surprising that the majority of graduates are employed within the health care sector. Data shows that 100% of graduates leaving midwifery courses in the 2019/20 academic year secured work or further study within 15 months of graduating.*
While the vast majority of new qualified Midwives may work in an NHS Trust upon graduating, some may secure work in other settings. Equally, midwives may work in a range of different aspects of maternity care as their careers continue to progress.
The information detailed on this page, the excellent information resources from the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing, and the national Health Careers website can assist you in deciding on your next steps.
*UK full-time first degree graduates looking for employment or further study.
You might assume that midwives just work within a hospital labour ward, but you’ve probably also picked up from your course already that the role of a Midwife can take you to working in so many other settings. This opens up many exciting opportunities in terms of your career progression.
As there are such a range of different roles and settings, it’s tricky to provide definitive ‘career pathways.’ Note the list we have offered here is designed to provide an overview some examples rather than all the available roles within midwifery. There may also be some overlap in the following list depending on the host employer organisation:
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Hospital
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Community settings
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General Practice setting
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Community based Assessment Centre (for example offering triage for expectant mothers with concerns around birth and labour)
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ante-natal clinics
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children’s centres
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working in a local authority setting (local authority providers of community drop-in services, health visitor services, and public health programmes)
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Private sector and, or charities, community interest companies and social enterprise organisations
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Armed forces careers – visit our dedicated page on the armed forces to find out more
Royal College of Midwives Career Framework
The RCM Career framework offers a profession specific career structure for its members, their employers and educators across the UK. The framework is built on the four pillars of education, clinical practice, management and research with leadership being placed centrally.
You can click on each section of the framework on the RCM website to learn more about the variety of roles midwives might progress into. There are also some excellent case studies where you can find out more about how midwives developed their careers within midwifery.
Explore the RCM course on the career framework
Career progression and developing special interests
Many midwives will go onto develop further special interests as part of their career progression. Here are a few examples of paths you might like to consider in your career as a midwife:
- Health visitor (for example, some midwives may go onto do an additional Specialist Community Public Health Nursing qualification to practice as a Health Visitor) or work within public health
- By engaging with specific client groups, such as those experiencing homelessness, refugees, victims of sexual violence, or teenage pregnancy, and focusing on particular issues like substance misuse, sexual health, smoking cessation, diabetes, obesity, and mental health, professionals in this field have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact.
Additionally, working in specialised settings such as screening clinics, infant feeding clinics, immunisation programmes, or even pursuing additional qualifications in complementary therapies (such as aromatherapy for use during labour) as part of continuing professional development, further expands the range of skills and services that can be provided.
- Labour ward coordinator or manager, practice education, matron, consultant midwife
- Clinical governance, policy, commissioning, advisory roles (for example to NHS England or Department of Health and Social Care)
- Clinical academic and research careers via opportunities such as lectureships and fellowships. Find out more via Clinical academic careers Health Education England and Integrated Clinical and Practitioner Academic Programme
- Working abroad through organisations such as; Medicins Sans Frontiers, Oxfam, Disaster Emergency Committee, International Red Cross and Humanitarian aid working internationally. Find out more about working in different countries on our How do I find work abroad page
Military careers
Whether you are thinking about a reservist role or using your qualification as midwife to work within them military, there are a range of opportunities you might consider.
As a student, the armed forces offer sponsorships and bursaries for university students. You can apply for subjects like science, technology, engineering, maths and healthcare. There are exciting ways to get experience of military life during your degree.
While you're at university, you might also consider joining the
- Army's University Officer Training Corps
- RAF's University Air Squadron
- Navy's University Royal Navy Unit
Find out more about careers in the military on our armed forces page
Working abroad
Below is a list of organisations you may want to explore for opportunities to work abroad:
Find out more about working in different countries on our page How do I find work abroad?
Tips for career progression
Top tips from The Royal College of Nursing
Whether its thinking and reflecting on your career or you’re just feeling in need of a bit of inspiration, the RCN offers some excellent practical tips to help you in navigating and deciding the next steps in your Midwifery career Career progression tips. Consider utilising their tips as a reference point to aid your career progress.
As with all careers, there is a saying that your journey will be a bit like crazy paving and that you have to lay it yourself. However, don’t think you’re alone in this, it’s vitally important to tap into all the information and support that is available to you to ensure that these can support you to make well informed decisions. Consider using the following checklist:
1. Make the most of your placement opportunities
Ensure you maximise all the support and help available to get the most out of your placements. So many student midwives reflect that their practice placements informed some of their most important future career decisions.
2. Consider applying for University of Nottingham Dean’s Academic Health Sciences Internship
This is a paid ‘sandwich year’ between the second and third year of the undergraduate course. Nurses, physiotherapists, midwives and sports rehabilitation students are invited to step off the course to spend 12 months as a paid university staff member to work on all sorts of exciting opportunities to develop their experience, employability and future career ideas.
Read Amelia and Alex’s blog about their experience and what they gained from their internship
3. Make the most of any preceptorship year offered
If your role as a newly qualified midwife offers a preceptorship period, use the protected learning time and available support to help you develop the confidence, knowledge, skills attitudes and behaviours to practice as an accountable healthcare professional so that you are able to work effectively to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) Code.
Find out more about preceptorship:
4. The Black Industry Connections and Empowerment Programme (BICEP)
The Black Industry Connections and Empowerment Programme (BICEP) has been designed to help students expand their professional networks, meet inspiring role models and find empowerment in their university experience
Black Industry Connections and Empowerment Programme
Health Careers – the national health careers website hosts a comprehensive section on midwifery with many written and video case studies, and additional links and resources – it’s worth spending half an hour or so browsing through the information available. This may help you to generate future career ideas to explore further.