Maternity support worker to midwife
A maternity support worker already meets 47% of what the midwife role asks for. The move turns on 37 required skills not yet in the profile.
70.4/ 100
1 How much of what a midwife is expected to do is already part of a maternity support worker’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the midwife role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A midwife role treats 36 of its required skills as things a maternity support worker already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- advise on family planning
- advise on pregnancies at risk
- advise on pregnancy
- anaesthetics
- analgesics
- apply context specific clinical competences
What stands in the way is 37 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 38 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A midwife role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a maternity support worker background worth leading with.
- already held analgesics health and welfare
- already held assess the course of breast-feeding period communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held assist on pregnancy abnormality assisting and caring
- already held care for the new-born infant assisting and caring
- already held empathise with the woman's family during and after pregnancy assisting and caring
- already held examine the new-born infant information skills
All 38 carried skills, including the 36 the midwife role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 50 missing skills fall into 13 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn carry out treatment prescribed by doctors required
- still to learn conduct spontaneous child deliveries required
- still to learn provide care for the mother during labour required
- still to learn provide information on the effects of childbirth on sexuality required
- still to learn provide pregnancy termination care required
- still to learn take emergency measures in pregnancy required
- still to learn prescribe medication required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- optional, not held apply acupuncture optional
- still to learn lactation required
- still to learn dietetics required
- still to learn obstetric ultrasonography required
- still to learn radiological procedures required
- still to learn epidemiology required
- still to learn female reproductive system pathology required
- still to learn pathology required
- still to learn resuscitation required
- optional, not held phytotherapy optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- still to learn support informed consent required
- still to learn accept own accountability required
- still to learn advise on childbirth required
- still to learn provide education on family life required
- still to learn address problems critically required
- still to learn develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship required
- still to learn educate on the prevention of illness required
- still to learn inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health required
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- still to learn postpartum legal protection required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held company policies optional
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- optional, not held conduct research on reproductive medicine optional
- optional, not held perform antepartum fetal monitoring optional
- optional, not held address side effects of menopause optional
7 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a midwife role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 carry out treatment prescribed by doctors practise this
- 02 conduct spontaneous child deliveries practise this
- 03 lactation study this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 38 skills that carry over
- already held advise on family planning skill
- already held advise on pregnancies at risk skill
- already held advise on pregnancy skill
- already held anaesthetics knowledge
- already held analgesics knowledge
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held assess the course of breast-feeding period skill
- already held assist on pregnancy abnormality skill
- already held care for the new-born infant skill
- already held childbirth knowledge
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
- already held deal with emergency care situations skill
- already held embryology knowledge
- already held empathise with the woman's family during and after pregnancy skill
- already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
- already held examine the new-born infant skill
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held health education knowledge
- already held human anatomy knowledge
- already held hygiene in a health care setting knowledge
- already held listen actively skill
- already held microbiology-bacteriology knowledge
- already held monitor pregnancy skill
- already held neonatology knowledge
- already held postpartum period knowledge
- already held pregnancy knowledge
- already held preparation for child delivery knowledge
- already held preparation for parenthood knowledge
- already held provide health education skill
- already held provide postnatal care skill
- already held provide pre-natal care skill
- already held sex education knowledge
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held use different communication channels skill
- already held use obstetric sonography skill
The 7 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn relaxation techniques required
- optional, not held yoga optional
- still to learn psychology required
- optional, not held sociology optional
- still to learn health care occupation-specific ethics required
- still to learn collect biological samples from patients required
- still to learn pharmacology required
- still to learn use e-health and mobile health technologies required
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
13 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held conduct research on reproductive medicine optional
- optional, not held perform antepartum fetal monitoring optional
- optional, not held yoga optional
- optional, not held address side effects of menopause optional
- optional, not held apply acupuncture optional
- optional, not held company policies optional
- optional, not held phytotherapy optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
- optional, not held sociology optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
12 held skills the midwife role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role communicate with nursing staff skill
- not needed by the target role distribute meals to patients skill
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role have computer literacy skill
- not needed by the target role identify abnormalities skill
- not needed by the target role interact with healthcare users skill
- not needed by the target role monitor basic patients signs skill
- not needed by the target role promote health and safety skill
- not needed by the target role provide basic support to patients skill
- not needed by the target role support nurses skill
- not needed by the target role work under supervision in care skill
- not needed by the target role work with nursing staff skill
21 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn lactation required
- still to learn postpartum legal protection required
- still to learn dietetics required
- still to learn obstetric ultrasonography required
- still to learn radiological procedures required
- still to learn epidemiology required
- still to learn female reproductive system pathology required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn health care occupation-specific ethics required
- still to learn pathology required
- still to learn pharmacology required
- still to learn psychology required
- still to learn relaxation techniques required
- still to learn resuscitation required
- optional, not held yoga optional
- optional, not held company policies optional
- optional, not held phytotherapy optional
- optional, not held surgery optional
- optional, not held homeopathy optional
- optional, not held pedagogy optional
- optional, not held sociology optional
Common questions about this move
Can a maternity support worker become a midwife?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A maternity support worker already covers 47% of what a midwife is expected to do: 38 skills carry over, 36 of which the midwife role treats as required.
What skills does a maternity support worker need to become a midwife?
37 required skills are missing, plus 13 optional ones. They fall into 13 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is carry out treatment prescribed by doctors.
How hard is the move from maternity support worker to midwife?
Its learning distance is 70.4 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.