What is midwifery?
Midwifery focuses on supporting women and their families through pregnancy, labour and the early days after birth. As a midwife, you play a huge role in antenatal care, carry out clinical assessments and provide guidance during labour and birth. You might also teach new parents how to feed, hold and care for their babies. Midwives work in many settings, including hospitals, community teams and rural environments.
Although all midwives are trained to deliver the same core care, there are plenty of opportunities to develop your skills in an area that most interests you. In this blog, I explore the various career paths a Midwifery BSc (Hons) degree could lead to.
NHS midwifery roles
Most newly qualified midwives in the UK begin their careers in the NHS. New starters usually join at band 5 on the Agenda for Change pay system and work a standard 37.5-hour week, which can include early shifts, nights, and weekends. As you gain experience, you can apply for band 6 roles and progress into specialist or leadership positions, including team manager or consultant midwife.
NHS midwives work in many settings. These include hospitals, community teams, GP surgeries, birthing centres, and people’s homes. You may support women and families during antenatal, labour, postnatal or neonatal care. You will also work alongside a range of professionals, such as GPs, obstetricians, neonatal nurses, dietitians, physiotherapists, and maternity support workers. As a key point of contact during pregnancy, midwives make referrals and work with others to provide joined-up care.
Clinical speciality roles
Infant feeding specialists
Infant feeding specialists support parents with their feeding choices and guide them in more complex situations. Many hold additional qualifications, including International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) status.
Bereavement midwife
Bereavement midwives care for families experiencing late pregnancy loss, stillbirth, or neonatal death. They offer emotional support and help with practical arrangements, such as registering the death and discussing funeral options. The main aim is to guide families through difficult times and help them make memories in a way that feels right for them.
Public health midwife
Public health midwives apply UNICEF Baby Friendly Standards across maternity services. They lead and mentor midwives, enhancing clinical skills, professional knowledge, and best practice. They may also contribute to complementary maternal health services, such as the Smoking Cessation Service. Their biggest focus is reducing health inequalities and delivering public health interventions that prevent disease, improving outcomes for women with modifiable risk factors, including smoking and obesity.
Safeguarding midwife
Safeguarding midwives provide training, guidance, and supervision on safeguarding practices across multiple sites. They work with partner agencies to protect vulnerable women and babies. Their role also involves administrative duties, auditing, and data analysis to monitor and improve safeguarding outcomes.
Perinatal mental health midwife
Perinatal mental health midwives provide specialised support to pregnant women and birthing people with severe mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychosis, as well as those with additional mental health concerns during pregnancy. They are trained to guide people to appropriate services, provide expert advice, and work to reduce potential risks, promoting the health and wellbeing of both parent and baby.
Diabetes midwife
Diabetes midwives support mothers by explaining gestational diabetes and teaching them about blood sugar monitoring, dietary choices, and medication options. They work with specialist nurses, dietitians, and other healthcare professionals to ensure care is consistent, personalised, and effective. They may also advise families on caring for babies at risk of hypoglycaemia, promoting safe and informed care for both mother and child.
High dependency/acute care midwife
High dependency/acute care midwives provide specialised care for critically ill mothers who need more monitoring, treatment, and equipment than in standard wards. This can include women with existing health conditions, complex needs, postpartum haemorrhage, and severe infections. They have special training in managing comorbidities and complications.
Midwives can progress into senior leadership roles within hospitals and specialities, including positions such as practice development midwife, midwifery matron, ward manager, head of midwifery, and director of midwifery. The NHS supports this career progression through initiatives like the Mary Seacole Programme, while the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) offers leadership courses such as the Eidos Programme and the Florence Nightingale Foundation. Midwives can also train in non-medical prescribing, enabling them to prescribe a range of medicines within their scope of practice.
Non-hospital clinical pathways
Beyond hospital settings, midwives can work in the community, as part of a home birth team, in birth centres, or privately, both in the UK and abroad.
Community midwives usually care for low-risk pregnancies, while hospitals handle more complex cases, including complications, inductions, and emergencies. Differences in equipment and environment can present challenges. Community and home birth teams are usually smaller, allowing for more continued care and consistency in who attends each mother.
Hospital roles involve working with multidisciplinary teams and follow strict rules, whereas community and private roles often require higher autonomy and self-reliance, sometimes involving travel and unsociable hours.
There are also big differences between the NHS and private practice. The NHS offers structured pay bands, pensions, sick pay, holidays, and job security, but it’s busy and demanding. Private work is client-based, potentially more lucrative, and usually offers flexible hours, shorter wait times, and, depending on the clinic, luxury facilities.
Education, research, and academia
Midwives can continue their education through master’s degrees in teaching, advanced clinical practice, specialised clinical areas, business, scientific research, or data analysis. This can open doors to careers as lecturers, clinical educators, writers, and researchers.
Working abroad
With a UK midwifery degree, midwives can work internationally in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and across the Middle East. They may work for an organisation or independently, with a range of opportunities available. Some countries may require re-registration or additional training.
Midwives can also work on humanitarian efforts through organisations like MSF, the Red Cross, or the United Nations, or volunteer on global maternal public health projects. Midwifery is a vital and respected profession worldwide, making these skills highly valued across the globe.
Beyond midwifery
A midwifery degree opens doors beyond traditional clinical roles. Using transferable skills and knowledge, midwives can pursue careers in women’s health, neonatal care, or broader healthcare fields. Opportunities include roles such as Health Policy Advisor, working with NHS Quality Improvement teams, leading public health projects, or writing medical articles to educate on midwifery and current research.
Some midwives have even launched podcasts on childbirth and maternal health, sharing expertise beyond their local clinical setting. In today’s digital world, there is also a growing demand for midwifery support in developing digital health apps, pregnancy monitoring tools, and other healthcare technologies.
Personal angle
As a midwifery student at Coventry University, I initially chose this course for its specialised knowledge in a field I was passionate about. I quickly realised, however, that it offers so much more than simply “becoming a midwife.” The future is full of options, and I’m still discovering them day by day.
One of the best things about this course is the variety of experiences you gain: working in the community, in hospitals, with high and low-risk cases. Through placements, we explore different specialities, shift patterns, and meet midwives from diverse backgrounds, which helps us find what suits our skills and preferences.
Even as a student, I’ve had the privilege of exploring career opportunities both locally and abroad by reaching out and talking to people. Each placement and opportunity for practical work teaches me more about the environments I enjoy and the roles that match my strengths.
I’m not worried about choosing a specific pathway right now, as midwifery is versatile and offers opportunities to grow and change over time. I’m excited to see where my career might lead - whether into academia, teaching, specialisation, or something completely new.
I hope this blog shows just how huge the prospects are in what might seem like a niche healthcare course. A midwifery degree opens doors to so many opportunities, and even the chance to pioneer new paths in the field.
