Provides care and advice to women during pregnancy, labour and childbirth, and postnatal care for women and babies in a range of settings such as the home, community, hospitals, clinics and health units. Registration or licensing is required.
Previously referred to in ASCO as:
2324-11 Nurse - Registered Midwife
Midwives provide care, education, advice and support to women and their
families during pregnancy, labour and birth, and provide postnatal care to
women and babies in the early weeks following birth.
Midwives usually work to a rotating seven-day roster that includes morning,
afternoon and night shifts, as well as weekends and public holidays.
Alternatively, they may work in more flexible models of care that allow them
to structure their working hours around the needs of the women for whom they
care. They are often required to work on call.
How much can I expect to earn?
Full-time employed Midwife earn an average of $1519 per week. The [average
annual salary for this job is $78988 excluding super.]
Personal requirements
good communication skills
able to assume responsibility and take leadership
able to take initiative in emergencies
able to work under pressure
tolerant and patient when dealing with people from a wide range of backgrounds
able to work as part of a team
able to cope with the physical and psychological demands of the job.
This job also involves:
Good vision for detail
These jobs require you to be able to see clearly to examine items close-up. It
covers jobs where poor vision e.g. tunnel vision, could make the work place
unsafe or the job difficult to undertake, e.g. draftsperson working with
detailed drawings; checkout operator reading dockets; work requiring good
hand-eye co-ordination for working with precision or semi-precision tools.
Reading or writing
These jobs require moderate or better reading and writing skills. Workers may
be expected to prepare, understand or act on written materials, such as
letters or reports. People may wish to avoid these jobs if their reading or
writing English skills are limited to a small range of words or phrases and
symbols. Jobs remaining may still require very basic reading or writing
skills.
This occupation offers jobs at the following skill levels:
Professional Jobs
Jobs in this group usually require completion of a recognised Bachelor Degree,
or extensive relevant experience. Some jobs also require post-graduate study,
such as a Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or Master Degree.
Study requirements
At school, you can study these subject(s) to get a good foundation for this
occupation:
Biology
School subjects that include some aspect of BIOLOGY provide a useful
background to these jobs. In some cases a biology-related subject is a pre-
requisite for entry to courses that provide the training for the job.
Duties and tasks of a Midwife
Midwives may perform the following tasks:
provide clinical midwifery care and support for women, their babies and their families
detect any complications that may develop for a mother or her baby
arrange appropriate consultations and referrals, and implement emergency measures when necessary
work as a part of a multidisciplinary team, liaising with other healthcare professionals to provide the best care for child-bearing women, their babies and families
observe, monitor, assess, report and document care provided to women and their babies, as well as their responses to treatment
administer medication to women and their babies as required
prepare women for operative birth and provide post-operative care
provide education and advice about health matters for women, their families and the wider community
answer questions and provide information to women and their families about treatment and care
contribute to the clinical training of midwifery, medical and other students
directly supervise other health professionals who may be involved in the care of women and their babies as required.
Specialisations
Midwifery Educator
A midwifery educator supports and teaches midwifery students; assists with the
development, design, implementation and evaluation of midwifery education and
professional development programmes; and manages educational resources.
