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How To Become A Midwife
Anyone who has been there at the beginning of a new life coming into the world can testify as to what a moving experience it is, and it is an experience that midwives get every single working day!
Whether it be working on the wards or in the community, midwives are a vital part of society, guiding often uneasy parents through the confusions of pregnancy, the birthing process, and helping them to care for their new babies once they are born. At once challenging and immensely rewarding, midwifery is a career that people come to from all walks of life as well as all educational backgrounds.
What unites all midwives, however, is that they will have to undertake degree-level education. In the UK, this usually means completing an NMC‑approved midwifery degree, which combines academic study with supervised clinical practice and leads to eligibility to register as a midwife.
There is a vast array of education options, but this guide covers most of them, as well as highlights the immense benefits in the career that can be gained from a postgraduate qualification in a related area. Whether midwifery is a speciality you pick up along the course of another medical degree, or your choice of subject right from the first day of UCAS applications, a postgraduate degree could really boost your prospects.
What undergraduate qualifications do you need to become a midwife?
Whatever way you choose, you need to find a degree that leads to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. To practise as a midwife in the UK, you must be on the NMC-midwife part of the register, which requires successful completion of an approved pre‑registration midwifery degree and meeting the NMC’s standards. Broadly speaking, there are two undergraduate routes into doing this. The first and most obvious route to take is a three-year BSc in Midwifery, a course that is half theory and half supervised practice in the community and in hospital. For those looking for wider experience, a BSc in Nursing may be more advisable. This is also a three-year course split between practical and theory, a nursing degree trains you in nursing more generally (improving your prospects for career progression), and gives you options to specialise both within the degree itself and going on into postgraduate level. Entry requirements vary by university, but many ask for at least five GCSEs at grade 4/C or above (including English and Maths) plus two A‑levels or equivalent, along with occupational health and Disclosure and Barring Service checks.
What should you study at postgraduate level?
The choice of what midwifery course to study at postgraduate level really depends on what you studied at undergraduate level, although eventually the options converge. If you studied nursing at bachelor degree level, once you have qualified as a nurse, you have the option to take an additional course that is an 18‑month fast-track midwifery program. Many universities now offer shortened midwifery routes for registered adult nurses – often described as “shortened” or “conversion” BSc or MSc Midwifery programs – which typically take 18 to 24 months of full‑time study and lead to registration as a midwife with the NMC. This is a postgraduate program that can be taken by anyone who has qualified as a nurse, so classes are often split between those progressing straight from their BSc and those who have been nurses for some time and are looking for further qualification.
If you are the former (or completed your nursing course within the last two years), many universities will offer you the chance of converting your BSc in nursing to an MSc diploma in midwifery. Examples include the University of Bradford’s MSc Midwifery (Shortened Program) and the University of Worcester’s Midwifery MSc (Shortened) Programme, which combine academic learning with extensive clinical placements and prepare you for NMC registration. A two-year full-time course, most programs are funded by the NHS.
In England, eligible students on pre‑registration midwifery courses can also apply for the NHS Learning Support Fund, which currently includes a non‑repayable training grant and additional allowances, alongside standard student finance; funding arrangements differ in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and should be checked on the relevant national health education websites.
Even if your first degree was in something other than healthcare, many universities will allow you to take this fast-track course to gain a pre-registration health qualification that can lead you into becoming an accredited midwife. In practice, most shortened midwifery routes are for registered adult nurses; applicants with a non‑health first degree usually need to undertake a full three-year pre‑registration midwifery degree or an accelerated pre‑registration nursing degree first, depending on the university’s entry criteria.
The process from this ‘top-up’ degree into registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council differs with each university, so they are worth contacting to get more information, but all the courses share this shortened degree time, giving you a route into healthcare that is a year shorter than the traditional three‑year course.
International applicants will need to meet both university academic and English language requirements and, after qualification, complete the NMC’s registration process for overseas‑trained professionals if they wish to practise in the UK.
Even if your first degree was already in midwifery, postgraduate options are crucial for those looking to progress in their career, as well as those who want to undertake training and research that will help all expectant mothers.
One such option is to take a Masters in Clinical Research or a Doctorate in Clinical Research. Some people take these degrees to undertake crucial medical research, others take them to become midwifery lecturers themselves, teaching the next generation of midwives, whilst others simply take them to advance their skills and competencies to increase their NHS banding, meaning more status and higher wages. Whatever your reasons, most universities offer teaching and research postgraduate qualifications that every day are improving patient care.
If you want to do this research whilst also maintaining your clinical practice, the NHS even offers what is called an Integrated Clinical Academic Program that allows you to do care-improving research without sacrificing the hands-on work that interested you in midwifery in the first place. Integrated Clinical Academic (ICA) schemes, supported by NHS England and partners, provide internships and fellowships for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals who want to develop research careers alongside clinical practice.
What work experience should you consider?
With most, if not all, midwifery programs offering a good split between classroom work and field work in hospitals and communities, many students find they come out of their midwifery degrees with a substantial body of work experience already. However, some people wish to offer their services in clinical support roles. As well as widening career prospects, these jobs often give a midwife experience in areas their degree does not have time to cover, improving their manner with patients and ultimately making them more successful midwives. Like midwifery in general, this work is split between hospital roles – say, clinical support in a labour or postnatal unit – and ones within the community visiting new mothers. Healthcare support worker or maternity support worker posts, for example, can provide valuable experience of maternity care prior to or alongside training.
Many people might find themselves biased to hospital work as being ‘where the action is’, but community work is equally important and often far more varied, providing experiences that feed right back into making you a better, more empathetic midwife. What is more, these community services often find themselves drastically understaffed, so any help you are able to give benefits both your career and countless parents. Midwives work across a range of settings – including hospital obstetric units, midwifery units, freestanding birth centres and home birth services – so gaining exposure to different environments is helpful for your future career choices.
Student case study
Chloe, a student at City St George’s, University of London, originally qualified as a nurse. After qualifying, she worked for some time in a hospital before realising she wanted to specialise in midwifery. “I loved being a nurse,” she says, “but after my older sister gave birth, I realised that being a midwife was my true passion.” Once she realised this, Chloe applied at her alma mater, City St George’s, to their shortened midwifery route for registered adult nurses, allowing her a second registration as a midwife on top of the one she already has as a nurse.
Universities offering similar shortened or conversion routes for nurses include:
- Middlesex University’s Midwifery with Professional Registration (Shortened Program) BSc (Hons)
- University of Bradford’s MSc Midwifery (Shortened Program)
- University of Suffolk’s BSc (Hons) Midwifery Shortened.
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Content updated in January 2026.
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