A Midwife is a health care professional qualified to provide the full range of care to healthy women and babies during pregnancy, birth and the early parenting period. They have the expertise and skills necessary to care for women with normal risk pregnancies and at the same time are also trained to recognise when a woman or baby’s progress lie outside of the range of normal. In these circumstances, Midwives will refer the woman to an obstetrician or paediatrician. Midwives promote and advocate for non-intervention in normal childbirth and are the most appropriate caregiver for women with normal risk pregnancies. They have a deep understanding of the process of normal birth, how to support that process and how to meet the individual needs of women and their families.
In Ireland, a Midwife has either completed a bachelor degree course in midwifery or is a registered general nurse who has completed a postgraduate course to become a Midwife. Once qualified, many Midwives continue with professional development and expand their role to include additional skills such as new-born examination, drug prescribing and certain types of ultrasound scanning.
Other Midwives you may meet on your pregnancy journey are Clinical Midwifery Specialists e.g. lactation, bereavement, urodynamics. These midwives have become clinical experts in a particular area and have undertaken further education. You may also meet Advanced Midwife Practitioners who have been educated to a high level and have extensive experience. They can independently assess, diagnose, manage and care for women with complex clinical issues.