Midwifery CAREER INSIGHT
LJMU CAREERS TEAM 0151 231 2048/3719 ❚ careers@ljmu.ac.uk
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Career Insight: Midwifery
Introduction The Midwifery course at LJMU will provide you with the skills and experience to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) once you graduate and go on to develop a career as a midwife, supporting women and their families through pregnancy, childbirth and during the postnatal period. 50% of the time on the course is spent in clinical practice in a range of settings, including local wards (community, antenatal and postnatal), delivery suites, gynaecology departments, theatres, neonatal units and medical clinics. These placements provide the opportunity for you to learn more about the role of a midwife and will give you the opportunity to apply the practical skills you have learned on the course in the workplace.
Career options By the time you graduate from LJMU, you will be a confident, competent and skilled midwife who is comfortable working independently with diverse cultural and social groups and will be able to deliver the highest quality of care to women and their families. Most of our graduates take up employment within the NHS and private sector. Alternatively, you may choose to work solely as a clinician or take up a career in management, research or education. To get an idea of what’s out there; here are some examples of the range of options for midwives: Hospital Antenatal Care
Intrapartum Care
Postnatal Care
Transitional Care
Neonatal intensive Care
Community Holistic role caring for mother and new-born in antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal phase
Educationalist, taking an active role in parent craft, aqua natal classes etc
Specialist roles within the hospital or community
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Supporting women subject to domestic violence
Midwife for the homeless
Breast Feeding Co-ordinator
Foetal Services
Children’s Service
Child protection
Drug/Alcohol misuse
Smoking cessation
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Career Insight: Midwifery
You could also consider working abroad with organisations such as Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) or Medicine Sans Frontier (MSF) and you could progress into more senior roles, such as supervisor of midwives or midwifery matron. Women-centred care As midwifery services are increasingly moved from hospital to community, the settings in which you could work will reflect this. Some midwives, however, will choose to remain working in hospital maternity units – antenatal, labour and postnatal wards – while others will work in community and GP clinics, and birthing centres. There is an increasing trend for midwives to work as part of a team, following their clients from the day they become pregnant through to the birth of their child, or managing a caseload of clients in a specific geographic area.
Future career options Your midwifery qualifications and experience will open a wide range of options to develop your career in the directions that interest you most. As your knowledge and expertise increase, you could move into more senior practitioner roles. Becoming a team or unit manager, you could combine responsibility for managing other staff with ongoing hands-on involvement with clients. You may choose to specialise in a particular area of perinatal care and study for further qualifications. As part of this process you might carry out research that helps move the profession forward. You could become attached to a university and be involved in teaching future midwives. If you stay in practice, you could consider the role of consultant midwife, which provides clinical leadership for midwives and others across maternity services. Your career could well move through different elements of research, teaching, practice development and management — including management at board level within an NHS Trust, influencing the shape of healthcare across a whole community. You could also move into other professions, including neonatal nursing or health visiting. Neonatal nurses have a clinical focus on the treatment and care of women and babies with health complications around birth: for example, helping premature babies to get through the critical first few days after they are born.
Health visiting Health visitors work with families at home and in the community, promoting good health with particular attention on young children. In effect, they take over where the community midwife's role ends, and have a wider concern with the circumstances in which a young child is growing up.
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Career Insight: Midwifery
Consultant midwives Consultant midwives are central to health service modernisation, helping to provide patients with services that are fast and convenient. Consultant midwives usually spend a minimum of 50% of their time working directly with patients, ensuring that people using the NHS continue to benefit from the very best midwifery skills. In addition, the consultant midwives are responsible for developing personal practice, being involved in research and evaluation and contributing to education, training and development. Consultant midwives are very experienced registered midwives, who will specialise in a particular field of health care. Each consultant role will be very different, depending upon the needs of the employer, but midwives working at this level are amongst the highest paid of their professions. Job vacancies will appear in a range of sources including NHS Jobs.
Midwife Entry Requirements In addition to your placement experience, experience dealing with the public, particularly in a health and social care setting is valued by employers. Voluntary roles working with teenage parents, working with breastfeeding groups or working with charities dealing with issues such as birth defects, miscarriage or bereavement will also enhance your application. Generally the following skills are required for the role:
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Good fitness, health, strength and stamina
A calm manner in stressful situations
Strong teamwork skills
Intuitive and caring
If you don’t gain a midwifery position straight away after graduating you could consider other healthcare related roles, particularly within the NHS. Working as a midwifery care assistant is a great way of maintaining your professional skills and updating your network of contacts. These positions are advertised on NHS Jobs.
Skills required There are a range of important skills and knowledge you will need to pursue a career in midwifery, some examples include:
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Excellent people skills: Having babies happens to all sorts of people, so you will be providing professional support and reassurance to a huge diversity of women, during some of the most emotionally-intense periods in their lives.
Good communication and observation: You need to be a good at listening and communicating with women, their partners and families.
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Career Insight: Midwifery
Interest in the physical, psychological and process of pregnancy and birth: Working as a midwife you will need to have an in-depth understanding of foetal and child development. It is also important for you to update and test your knowledge against experience.
Ability to answer questions and offer advice: Midwives are the most frequent point of contact for parents to be, so you must be able to answer their questions, share your knowledge and skills with patients, their families and friends and make sure their needs are recognised by the rest of the care team.
Happy to work as part of a team: As a midwife you will be part of a multidisciplinary team liaising with GPs, health visitors and social workers. You will also work alongside the parents and baby. The better you know each other, the more smoothly the birth is likely to go.
Dealing with emotionally charged situations: You will have to stay calm and alert in times of stress, and enable women to feel confident and in control. On the rare occasions where something goes wrong, you have to be ready to react quickly and effectively.
Main Employers The vast majority of midwives in England are employed by the NHS, hospitals and acute trusts, foundation trusts, or through primary care trusts (PCTs) working in GP practices or in the community. Other types of employers include private hospitals, independent practices and the armed forces. Some midwives are self-employed. University hospitals also employ midwives in joint partnerships between the trust and the university to work in lecturer-practitioner positions, or to conduct research. With experience, you could become a ward manager or team leader, responsible for a hospital ward or a team of midwives in the community. You may be able to progress to director of midwifery or midwifery consultant. You would usually need a Master’s degree or PhD for this. Another option is to take further training to become a health visitor, or neonatal nurse specialising in the treatment of women and babies with health problems related to birth (as mentioned above). All occupational profiles listed on http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm include a section on typical employers and vacancy sources, so use these as a starting point to research potential employers within the career areas that interest you.
Case Study Sophie Cavanagh graduated from LJMU with a BA (Hons) in Midwifery in 2014. What did you enjoy most about your midwifery course?
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Career Insight: Midwifery
I enjoyed the variety and pace of learning. The midwifery course is not for the faint hearted but the sense of achievement you feel once completed is overwhelming. What was also enjoyable was the opportunity to learn from one another and share ideas and experiences. This is ultimately what enhances and supports your learning. Being out in practice is also amazing and helps bring together the theoretical aspect of the course. Did you do anything extra during your time at university to develop your skills outside of placements and lectures? I was student representative for two years and I also worked as a student advocate. For the past three years I took part in developing and delivering a student-staff forum whereby lecturers and students come together to celebrate aspects of the course that are working, as well as discuss improvements that can be made. I was also a Student Quality Ambassador - a role whereby I was part of a larger project that aimed to champion good practice in the workplace and identify improvements in services. It was ultimately about improving public experiences of the NHS and ensuring we deliver high standards of care. How have you benefited from this? Participating in activities such as this has helped enhance my CV as well as develop a range of transferable skills. It enabled me to become more confident in communicating with others and with this I have had the opportunity to initiate important changes within my chosen field of study. With this I improved my confidence in speaking in front of large groups of people something which I know will be useful in my chosen career. The SQA role in particular was useful for networking as I was able to work alongside some of the most influential people in my placement Trust.
Useful websites Below are some useful midwifery careers information and job vacancy websites:
Professional Bodies and Career Information websites: Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) NHS Careers NHS Careers ‘Careers in detail - Midwifery – Future careers options’ Midwives Information and Resource Service (MIDRS) Midwives Online Student Midwife NHS Jobs Association of Radical Midwives Department of Health Birth Choice UK Iolanthe Midwifery Trust
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www2.ljmu.ac.uk/Careers
www.nmc-uk.org www.rcm.org.uk https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/ https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/exploreroles/midwifery www.midirs.org www.midwivesonline.com www.studentmidwife.net www.jobs.nhs.uk www.midwifery.org.uk www.doh.gov.uk www.birthchoiceuk.com www.iolanthe.org/
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Career Insight: Midwifery
One-to-one Midwives Independent Midwives UK Nursing Standard Nursing Times Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association
www.onetoonemidwives.org www.independentmidwives.org.uk http://rcnpublishing.com/journal/ns http://www.nursingtimes.net/ www.unitetheunion.com/cphva
Job Vacancy Websites NHS Jobs NHS Professionals Midwives Jobs The Guardian Pulse staffing Health Professionals
www.jobs.nhs.uk www.nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk http://jobs.midwives.co.uk/ http://jobs.theguardian.com/jobs/health/nur sing-and-midwifery/ www.pulsestaffing.co.uk www.healthprofessionals.com
Journals Health Service Journal (Health management/policy magazine)
www.hsj.co.uk http://www.rcm.org.uk
Royal College of Midwives Journal Internurse
www.internurse.com
Recruitment agencies NHS Professionals
www.nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk
Working Abroad
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The RCM have produced a leaflet which provides advice for RCM members who may be considering or planning to work or undertake research/study overseas: http://www.rcm.org.uk/college/policy-practice/international/
NMC provide information and advice if you want to work as a nurse or midwife outside of the UK: http://www.nmc-uk.org/Registration/Planning-to-work-outsidethe-UK
The International Confederation of Midwives www.internationalmidwives.org
Voluntary Service Overseas
www.vso.org.uk
Medecins Sans Frontières
www.uk.msf.org
International Health Exchange
www.ihe.org.uk
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Career Insight: Midwifery
Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN)
www.merlin.org.uk
American College of Nurse-Midwives
www.acnm.org
Follow relevant groups/websites through Twitter: @MidwivesRCM @radmidassoc
@MIDIRS @MidwiferyJnl
@world_midwives @NHSChoices
@nmcnews
@LiverpoolWomens
@liverpoolccg
Other General Graduate Careers Websites: LJMU Vacancy website
http://ljmu.prospects.ac.uk/
Prospects (careers info and graduate jobs)
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/
TargetJobs (careers info and graduate jobs)
http://targetjobs.co.uk/
Milkround (graduate jobs, placements & internships)
http://www.milkround.com/
Jobs in the public sector
http://www.lgjobs.com/ http://www.jobsgopublic.com/
Vacancies in higher education and research
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/
Information about postgraduate study
http://www.postgrad.com/
Vacancies in charities and the not-for-profit sector
http://www.charityjob.co.uk/
Other job options within the health and social care sector include:
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Adult Nurse: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/adult_nurse_job_description.htm
Social Worker: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/social_worker_job_description.htm http://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/social/becomingasocialworke r/b00200996/step-up
Support Work: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/family supportworker.aspx https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/reside ntialsupportworker.aspx
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Career Insight: Midwifery
Other options include:
Working in the NHS: the NHS is a major graduate employer in the UK, not just in medical roles, but in a range of administration-related positions. http://www.nhsgraduates.co.uk/ and http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/index.html
Social Researcher: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/social_researcher_job_description.htm http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/networks/gsr http://www.natcen.ac.uk/
Roles within the charity and voluntary sector: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/charity_officer_job_description.htm http://www.prospects.ac.uk/volunteer_coordinator_job_description.htm
The suggestions listed here are by no means exhaustive so we would encourage you to conduct further research to find out about any additional careers open to you and consider other relevant options, e.g. based on previous work or voluntary experience, skills and interests. To explore job options by sector, check http://www.prospects.ac.uk/types_of_jobs.htm. You can also use career planning tools like http://www.prospects.ac.uk/myprospects_planner_login.htm and http://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-report to generate initial career ideas. Ensure you check entry requirements for each area, e.g. will you need a degree in a specific subject? Is a 2:1 degree classification essential? Will you need to complete a postgraduate degree? Is any specific work experience required? If it is, how could you go about gaining the required experience? We also recommend that you download a copy of our “Planning your Career” guide from the Careers website at http://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm. This includes a list of useful questions to help you explore your career options and introduces you to the DOTS model to help you with your career planning.
Sources of work experience Download our mini-guide on “Making yourself employable whilst at University” from http://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm for an overview of the different types of work experience available and some general suggestions about finding work experience opportunities. As part of the midwifery programme you complete placements to equip you with the experience to enter the midwifery profession. If you are looking to gain additional work experience, many students secure work experience through a ‘speculative’ or ‘creative’ approach, i.e. after contacting organisations directly through networking events, via email or through LinkedIn. Make sure you research the organisation beforehand and find out the best
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Career Insight: Midwifery
person to get in touch with. It is important that you demonstrate that you are interested in the organisation and have spent some time finding out what they do. Even when applying to secure work experience for the first time, show the employer what you have to offer. Useful websites to research a range of voluntary opportunities include http://www.doit.org.uk/ and https://www.liverpoolguild.org/main-menu/volunteer. You could also contact LJMU Volunteering Manager Chris Prescott on 0151 904 6356 or c.j.prescott@ljmu.ac.uk to enquire about current opportunities. It is also worth researching relevant organisations/charities and contacting them directly to find out about voluntary roles on offer.
Recruitment schedule The NHS recruits midwives as and when required. Again, research is key to ensure that you do not miss relevant opportunities. The recruitment process for midwifery jobs in the NHS usually involves submitting an application form, addressing the person specification within the ‘supporting/additional information section. Carefully read through the job description and address all the points in the person speciation, ensuring you match what the employer is looking for. Use clear examples to show how you meet the person specification, linking this in with the job description and reflecting on your experience through clinical placements. You should also demonstrate your motivation for applying for the post and show that you have researched the role and the trust. See the Nursing and Midwifery Tackling Application Forms guide for further guidance: http://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm You may also want to consider graduate schemes with health and social care companies such as BUPA or the NHS. Many graduate training schemes with large companies will accept applications from students of any degree background. If you are interested in these roles, you will need to be aware of the graduate recruitment cycle. Many recruiters begin the graduate recruitment process during the autumn term for final-year students. Most closing dates are in November and December, but some are earlier so it is important to start researching companies that you want to apply to early on. The application process for graduate training schemes usually involves completing an online application form, which may require you to answer ‘competency based questions’. Most of the large recruiters have a section on the student/graduate pages of their website that outlines the different steps of their selection process, so check these to find out what is required. For more information about graduate schemes, download the ‘Graduate Schemes’ guide from http://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers/123871.htm. You can get advice about the recruitment process by booking a one-to-one appointment with a career or employability adviser or you can attend relevant arranged by the Careers Team.
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Career Insight: Midwifery
Key events and networking
Liverpool Careers Fair: usually held in the autumn and spring of each year, see fairs website http://www.liverpoolfairs.org.uk/ for additional events
RCM Events: www.rcm.org.uk/college/campaigns-events/events/rcm-events/
Manchester Careers Fairs: open to students and graduates from any university; check http://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/events/ for details
Careers and Employability events at LJMU: Keep an eye on our events pages at https://worldofwork.ljmu.ac.uk/events/ for details of upcoming employability workshops, networking sessions and employer talks.
LiverpoolSU Clubs and Societies: https://ljmu.unioncloud.org/groups?parent_link=clubs-societies-menu-wrapper
LinkedIn: You could also consider setting up a LinkedIn account (http://www.linkedin.com/) to network online with professionals and organisations in your chosen industry
Other information Centre for Entrepreneurship The Centre for Entrepreneurship supports students and graduates who want to set up their own businesses. Whether you want to develop a new business idea, work as a freelancer or launch a product or service, the Centre for Entrepreneurship can help. To book a place at one of their free workshops or a confidential business advice session with one of their business advisers, call 0151 231 3300 or visit their website https://www2.ljmu.ac.uk/startup/
Careers Zones Campus-based Careers Zones provide easy access to careers support in convenient locations at Byrom Street, Aldham Robarts Library and at IM Marsh, staffed by the Careers Team. Support available includes CV and application form reviews, Careers Adviser appointments, drop-in quick queries, practice interviews and access to careers resources and information. The Zones also host regular employer visits during term time where you can meet and network with employers and discuss job and placement opportunities. For the latest updates and details of locations and opening times, try our Twitter and Facebook pages or call 0151 231 2048/3719.
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