Midwife

Midwife
midwife, midwife
The midwife (or midwife, for men) follows the future mother from the start of her pregnancy until the birth of her child. She provides medical monitoring of the pregnancy, performs deliveries and provides first aid to the mother and baby. Trained to support a normal birth, she calls an obstetrician or surgeon in the event of a problem. This profession is mainly practiced in hospitals or clinics. Unemployment non-existent.

Professional life
Highly sought-after professionals
With a workforce of 20,000 people (2% of whom are men), the workforce is growing by 3% per year. However, the staff shortages are there. Especially since a shortage of gynecologists is looming on the horizon. Result: some clinics do not hesitate to offer a hiring bonus. Often, these practitioners start with replacements or fixed-term shifts at the hospital. An opportunity offered to students in the final year of the midwifery course.
Become a healthcare executive
After a few years of activity and specific training (master's degree in public health, health management and engineering, biology, etc.), a midwife can move towards research and teaching in midwifery schools. , or a management position in a hospital department, a PMI center, etc.
Change direction
With experience, the midwife can become independent or change direction. In fact, she benefits from a partial exemption from schooling for certain paramedical professions: occupational therapist, masseur-physiotherapist, nurse. She can still specialize in childcare school.
Beginner's salary
1616 euros gross per month (in the hospital civil service).
Working conditions
A majority of employees
80% of midwives work in hospitals or clinics, only 16% in private practice. A low rate but gradually increasing (4% in 10 years), unlike doctors, surgeons and pharmacists who are moving towards more employment. They are only 3% in the territorial civil service (maternal and child protection centers). Finally, this profession can be practiced within the Army Health Service.
In collaboration with doctors
In general, the day (or night) includes between 8 and 12 hours of on-call duty, most often at an intense pace given the influx of patients. Working in close collaboration with obstetrician-gynecologists or surgeons in the event of a complication or cesarean section. And/or with the anesthetists when it comes to applying an epidural or carrying out general anesthesia.
Towards more responsibilities
To relieve the offices of overwhelmed gynecologists, the field of activity of the profession has been broadened, now with a real role of diagnosis, prevention and prescription. Above all, with the widespread use of epidurals, midwives have become much more technical in the handling of certain tools or the dosage of medications (painkillers, coagulants, etc.).
SKILLS
The meaning of relational
Equipped with scientific and medical skills, the midwife also has excellent interpersonal skills. Her ability to establish a relationship of trust with the patient is essential. It is a profession of help and support, where teaching and availability are essential.
Endurance
Great physical and nervous resistance is expected, particularly because of variable hours (on-call, night and weekend work)... Babies don't always arrive during office hours! The midwife must be able to carry out deliveries even if she is tired. Not to mention that his responsibility is heavy, and the stress is never far away. So it’s better to have strong nerves.
Great emotional stability
If the midwife shares strong moments with the future parents, she sometimes faces difficult situations: a disability to announce or pregnancy complications to manage. Reassuring, it must respond appropriately to parents' concerns or questions. It even happens that she is confronted with death. Knowing how to take a step back is essential.
Nature of the work
Ensure prenatal follow-up
The midwife monitors the normal pregnancy. Its intervention is both medical (ultrasounds, fetal monitoring, screening for risk factors, etc.) and psycho-social (psychological monitoring of the future mother, childbirth preparation sessions). In a PMI (maternal and child protection) or family planning center, the midwife mainly plays an information and prevention role: information sessions, home visits, awareness of the risks of premature birth, etc.
Ensuring deliveries
In the hospital, the midwife handles deliveries alone in 70% of cases. She monitors, step by step, the progress of “labor” until birth.