Midwife : Employers and vacancy sources

The vast majority of midwives in England are employed by The National Health Service (NHS) , Hospitals and Acute Trusts, Foundation Trusts, or through Primary Care Trusts working in GP practices or in the community. The structure of the NHS is somewhat different in other parts of the UK.

Other types of employers include:

• private hospitals;
• independent practices;
• the armed forces.

Currently there is a national shortage of midwives and the government has announced a campaign to recruit 4,000 extra midwives by 2012. Areas that are particularly badly affected are London and the South East, the east coast and East Midlands.

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.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• The Health and Social Care Yearbook  
• Nursing Standard    
• Nursing Times    
• NHS Jobs   
• National and local press.

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