What's a Midwife?

What is a midwife?

A midwife is a health professional who supports you through your pregnancy and in labour and birth and helps you have your baby. Midwife means ‘with woman’ and midwives provide ‘woman centered care’ through your pregnancy and birth, placing you at the center of everything they do and tailoring your care to your unique situation. They ensure that you’re fully informed and empowered to make your own decisions about your care and the care of your baby. They are with you through pregnancy, birth and those intense first 6-8 weeks to guide you, provide advice and ensure you have the best start to motherhood.

The International Confederation of Midwives defines a midwife as 'a person who has successfully completed a midwifery education programme based on the ICM Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice and the framework of the ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education, recognised in the country where it is located; who has acquired the requisite qualifications to be registered and/or legally licensed to practice midwifery and use the title ‘midwife,’ and who demonstrates competency in the scope of practice of the midwife.'

Midwives in Australia are university educated and registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

The International Confederation of Midwives definition of a midwife's scope of practice:

The midwife is recognised as a responsible and accountable professional, who works in partnership with women to give the necessary support, care and advice during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period, to conduct births on the midwife’s own responsibility and to provide care for the newborn and the infant. This care includes preventative measures, the promotion of normal birth, the detection of complications in mother and child, the accessing of medical care or other appropriate assistance and the carrying out of emergency measures.  

The midwife has an important task in health counselling and education, not only for the women and gender diverse people they serve, but also within families and communities. This work should involve antenatal education and preparation for parenthood and may extend to sexual and reproductive health care, and care for infants and young children.  

A midwife may practise in any setting including the home, community, hospital, clinic or health unit. 

Gold Standard Maternity Care

In Australia we often medicalise birth when we don’t need to, forgetting that pregnancy and birth isn’t an illness, it’s a normal physiological process!

Midwifery care is the best maternity care you can get. The real gold standard is the ‘continuity of carer’ model where you see the same midwife or midwives throughout your whole pregnancy so that when you have your baby and in the weeks after, you are getting care from someone you now know well and trust. And there is plenty of evidence to prove it’s the best. Here are the stats.

With midwifery led care you are more likely to:

• have a normal birth;
• have your baby at term and healthy
• have a positive experience of labour and birth;
• be satisfied with your maternity care;
• successfully breastfeed your baby; and
• cost the health system less.

And place of birth matters too. The odds of normal labour and birth are more than twice as high in planned birth centre births than in hospitals. You are also:

• 19% less likely to lose your baby before 24 weeks
• 24% less likely to experience Pre term birth
• 16% less likely to have an episiotomy
• 6% less likely to have a caesarean
• More likely to breastfeed successfully
• More likely to have a positive birth experience

Homer CSE, Cheah SL, Rossiter C, et al Maternal and perinatal outcomes by planned place of birth in Australia 2000 – 2012: a linked population data study BMJ Open 2019;9:e029192. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029192

It’s up to you to choose the kind of care you want. Ask your GP about midwifery led care or whether you can access continuity of carer where you live. Alternatively you can find your own privately practising midwife.

Privately practising midwives are a wonderful option for anyone wanting the continuity of carer experience. Private practice doesn’t mean homebirth, but that is an option with a privately practising midwife if you want it. Many privately practising midwives can still look after you in hospitals or birth centres- it just depends where they have admitting rights.

Endorsed Midwives An Endorsed Midwife is a Midwife with an additional postgraduate qualification for an Endorsement for Scheduled Medicines. They can prescribe some medications and order diagnostic tests relating to pregnancy, birth and the newborn period making them autonomous primary maternity care providers. Endorsed midwives do not require a GP referral to work with women and can provide direct referral to other health professionals such as obstetricians and paediatricians as needed.

We’re in this together

Choose Midwifery Care