Midwife (2019 NMC standards) (Integrated degree) (level 6)
An advocate for the woman, working in partnership with her and giving the necessary support, care and advice during pregnancy.
- Qualification level
-
6
Equivalent to degree. - Typical duration
- 48 months
- Apprenticeship category
- Health and science
- Maximum funding
-
£26,000
Maximum amount government will fund
for apprenticeship training. - Skills
-
Skills an apprentice will learn
- Act in accordance with relevant legal, regulatory, and governance requirements, policies, and ethical frameworks to provide universal midwifery care
- Act in the best interests of women and newborn infants at all times across the continuum of care, promoting and enabling safe physical, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual care
- Apply the resourcefulness, and flexibility needed to work as an accountable, autonomous and professional midwife in all situations including stressful and difficult ones by developing strategies that contribute to safe and effective practice
- Apply evidence-based practice to decision making
- Apply the principles of compassionate care, courage, integrity, transparency, and the professional duty of candour, recognising, reporting any situations, behaviours, or errors and escalating concerns
- Act as an ambassador, uphold public trust and promote confidence in midwifery and health and care services
- Be accountable and autonomous in providing midwifery care and support across the continuum of care
- Provide and promote non-discriminatory, respectful, compassionate, and kind universal care that takes into account any need for adjustments
- Provide continuity of carer across the continuum of care for women and newborn infants with and without complications and additional care needs
- Inform, support, and assist in meeting women’s needs and preferences
- Coordinate care within the wider inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams, arranging a seamless transfer of care and promoting continuity of care and carer
- Inform and update inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency colleagues about changes in care needs and care planning, updating records accordingly
- Care for and support the woman, fetus and newborn infant across the continuum of care ensuring safety and well-being, optimising the normal processes of reproduction and early life, avoiding and reducing trauma where possible
- Seek informed consent from the woman for herself and/or her partner in relation to the newborn infant
- Involve women in assessment, planning and evaluating their own care and that of their newborn infant, promoting her confidence in her own body, health and well-being
- Assess the environment to maximise safety, privacy, dignity, optimising normal physiological processes and well-being
- Apply infection prevention and control procedures, following local and national policies and protocols
- Engage women, partners, and families in understanding and applying principles of infection control and antimicrobial stewardship
- Undertake appropriate examinations and assessments to provide care for women and newborn infants, using technological aids where appropriate
- Implement appropriate responses and decisions including responding to deviations from normal physiological processes and choice of place of birth
- Assess, promote, and encourage the development of the mother-newborn infant relationship, and opportunities for attachment, contact, interaction, mental wellbeing and relationship building between the women, newborn infant, partner and family
- Share information on public health, health promotion and protection with women, empowering them to make decisions, and facilitating access to resources and services
- Assess, interpret, record, and offer tailored information and access to resources or community-based services for women and families that promote their physical, mental, social health and wellbeing
- Share information and access to resources and services for women and families in regard to violence, abuse, poverty homelessness, refugees, victims of trafficking and safeguarding, acting appropriately and raising concerns as required
- Share information with women and families about national and local information and networks that are available to support women in the continuation of breastfeeding
- Share information with women and families about national and local information and networks that are available to support women in safe and responsive formula feeding where appropriate
- Provide parent education that is informed by current evidence on public health promotion strategies and best practice
- Work with other professionals, agencies, and communities to promote, support and protect breastfeeding, including neonatal ward and other settings encouraging skin to skin / kangaroo care, enabling the newborn to receive human milk if needed
- Involve the woman in the assessment, planning and evaluation of their own care, promoting health and well-being, recognising the diversity of individual circumstances and the woman’s own expertise of any pre-existing conditions including mental health issues, learning and physical disabilities
- Conduct holistic assessments of physical, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual health and well-being of the woman and the newborn infant across the continuum of care, involving her partner and family as appropriate
- Plan and provide individualised, culturally sensitive evidence-based care
- Offer and conduct screening programmes, interpret, and record findings in pregnancy, during labour, at birth and in the postnatal period for the woman, fetus and newborn infant including mental health, behaviour, emotional needs and those in the criminal justice system
- Observe, assess, and promote the woman’s, and partner’s response to the newborn infant and ability to respond to cues for closeness, love, comfort and feeding
- Assess, observe and provide support on all aspects of infant feeding including formula feeding
- Implement care that optimises normal physiological processes across the continuum of care, manages common symptoms and problems, anticipates and prevents complications
- Use evidence-informed physiological and active techniques as appropriate to safely manage all stages of labour and birth, encouraging mobility and optimal positions
- Guide and support the woman as she gives birth, using evidence-based approaches to safely conduct the birth, and seeking to avoid and reduce trauma where possible, while responding to the woman’s own preferences
- Conduct an immediate assessment of the newborn infant at birth and after birth, interpreting, recording and acting appropriately on findings including working with the working in collaboration with the neonatal team
- Conduct a full systematic physical examination of the newborn infant in line with local and national evidence-based protocols
- Conduct ongoing assessments of the health and well-being of the newborn infant, involving the mother and partner as appropriate, providing relevant explanations as required
- Assess interpret and record the health and well-being of the woman postnatally
- Involve the inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team where appropriate, consulting and making referrals for additional care or support needs as required for conditions such as female genital mutilation incontinences, surrogacy or adoption and caesarean section
- Provide midwifery care for women and newborn infants before, during, and after medical and surgical interventions such as epidural analgesia, anesthesia, fetal blood sampling, instrumental births, caesarean section and haemorrhage
- Recognise complications and additional care needs such as fertility, fetal development, adaptation to life, the newborn infant, very early child development, feeding, the transition to parenthood and positive family attachment
- Recognise and provide care, support or referral that may be required as a result of any pre-existing, current and emerging complications or care needs such as working in collaboration with the neonatal team when carrying out transitional care
- Use evidence and best practice approaches to manage emergency situations and respond to signs of compromise and/or deterioration in the woman, fetus, and newborn infant to make clinical decisions based on the findings and act on those decisions
- Consult with, seek help from, and refer to other health and social care professionals both in routine and emergency situations
- Use the principles of safe remote prescribing and directions to administer medicines including accurate drug calculations, safe storage, transportation and disposal of medicinal products
- Safely supply and administer medicines listed in the midwives' exemptions and other relevant legislation
- Work in partnership with the woman and multi-disciplinary team to assess, plan and provide care and support in regard to her experience of and response to pain and her need for pain management
- Administer injections using intramuscular, subcutaneous, intradermal and intravenous routes and manage equipment required to administer drugs safely
- Recognise and respond to adverse or abnormal reactions to medications
- Recognise the impact of medicines in breastmilk and support the woman to continue to responsively feed her newborn infant and/or to express breastmilk
- Collaborate effectively with multi-disciplinary teams and work in partnership with women to assess, provide care and support when emergency situations or clinical complications arise to ensure the safe administration of medicines
- Work collaboratively with women and the inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary or multi-agency team to plan and implement midwifery care for women and newborn infants requiring other services, and support women to access these as needed
- Ensure that the needs of women and newborn infants are considered together as a priority in all settings, encouraging immediate skin-to-skin contact at birth, even when women and infants have to be cared for separately, supporting women who are separated from their newborn infants and enabling contact with the newborn infant to maximise the time they can spend together
- Plan and implement midwifery care for women and/or partners and families following traumatic experiences, conveying respect, compassion and sensitivity when supporting women, their partners and families who are emotionally vulnerable, distressed and/or experiencing mental health issues
- Plan and implement compassionate, respectful, empathetic, dignified midwifery care for women and/or partners and families experiencing perinatal loss or maternal death miscarriage, bereavement, perinatal loss or maternal death with support with lactation suppression, postmortem examination, registration of death and funeral arrangements
- Be a reflective practitioner, committed to developing as a midwife, taking personal responsibility for ongoing learning and development and for engaging in education and professional development opportunities and the feelings around positive and negative feedback
- Keep up to date by identifying, critically analysing, and interpreting research evidence and local, national, and international data and reports
- Provide leadership and role modelling including the ability to guide, support, motivate, collaborate and share learning with and refer to inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency colleagues appropriately
- Recognise and respond to signs of personal and professional vulnerability in themselves or their colleagues and take action to minimise risks
- Work with inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency colleagues, advocacy groups and stakeholders to promote and develop quality or safety improvements and manage change
- Provide safe team management when supervising, supporting, teaching and delegating midwifery care
- Use appropriate and responsive communication with women, newborn infants, partners, families and colleagues, respecting confidentiality
- Access oral, written and digital information including published evidence, data and reports to inform conversations with women, partners, and families
- Conduct person-centred, sensitive and compassionate conversations with women, their partners and families on women’s and children’s health across the life continuum of care
- Involve the woman and her partner and family in discussions and decisions about her care and the care of the newborn infant, always respecting the woman’s preferences and decisions about who to involve and the extent of involvement and communication
- Use evidence-based approaches to build person-centred relationships with women, their partners and families that respect and enable their needs, views, preferences, and decisions
- Maintain consistent, complete, clear, accurate, secure, and timely records and responsibly share data within teams and between agencies
- Act as an advocate to ensure that care continues to focus on the needs, views, preferences and decisions of women, and the needs of newborn infants
- Develop and maintain relationships with colleagues from the inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team
Full information on Midwife (2019 NMC standards) (Integrated degree) (level 6) is available from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.
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Regulated occupation
Midwife (2019 NMC standards) (Integrated degree) (level 6) needs a training provider who is approved by Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Apprenticeship location
SW1A 2AA Remove location