Our standards of proficiency for midwives were approved by our Council at its meeting on 3 October 2019.
They have been updated to take into account the changes taking place in society and health care, and the implications these changes have for midwives.
On 30 April 2024, we made minor updates to the language, structure, and layout of our standards of proficiency. We haven’t included any new content or additional regulatory expectations. The changes ensure that both our programme and proficiency standards are presented consistently in our new visual identity, and improve their readability and overall accessibility.
If you can't find what you're looking for, feel free to email us.
How to read these standards
The standards of proficiency are grouped under six domains, which are important to understand because they:
- represent the knowledge, skills and attributes that all midwives must demonstrate at the point of registration
- reflect what the public, women and families can expect midwives to know and be able to do in order to provide the best and safest care possible
- provide a benchmark for midwives from the European Economic Area, EU and overseas wishing to join the register
- provide a benchmark for those who plan to return to practice after a period of absence
The six domains
- Being an accountable, autonomous, professional midwife
- Safe and effective midwifery care: promoting and providing continuity of care and carer
- Universal care for all women and newborn infants
- Additional care for women and newborn infants with complications
- Promoting excellence: the midwife as colleague, scholar and leader
- The midwife as skilled practitioner
How our standards work together
Using the standards
It's important to read these standards along with the other parts of Realising professionalism: Standards for education and training:
Reading both sets together provides a complete picture of:
- what midwives need to know and be able to do, by the time they register with us
- what approved education institutions (AEIs) and their practice learning partners must provide when delivering education and training courses
The role of the standards of proficiency for midwives
To help embed the standards within maternity services, we’ve published a new resource 'The role of the standards of proficiency for midwives'.
This supporting information has been developed for directors and heads of midwifery to use within their trust or health board. It will support employers to:
- ensure every midwife in their service has adopted the standards of proficiency in their practice
- use the Standards of proficiency as a gap analysis to identify your midwives’ continuing professional needs
- consider the role of the Standards of proficiency to address the recommendations raised in recent maternity safety reports.
The role of the standards of proficiency for midwives
Find out more about implementing our standards.
Using our standards to plan your CPD
Our standards of proficiency can be a key resource when planning CPD as part of your revalidation.
You can use our standards in your revalidation in the following ways:
- Use them to consider what knowledge and skills you need to practise safely.
- Use them to reflect on your practice and identify any further learning.
- Use them to help you plan your CPD as part of revalidation.
How these standards were developed
Since 2017 we have been developing these standards with input from stakeholders across the UK.
We put our proposals to consultation in spring 2019 and were pleased to have more than 1,600 responses.
We listened closely to the feedback we received, and made several positive changes to the standards as a result.
Find out more about how these midwifery standards were developed.
Practising as a midwife in the UK
Our Practising as a midwife in the UK document provides information for midwives, women and families, and anyone else with an interest in midwifery.
It describes our approach to the regulation of midwives but it is not a regulatory standard. It contains sections relating to each of our statutory functions: the education and training of midwives, registration and revalidation, standards and guidance, and fitness to practise. It should be read in conjunction with the Code and other standards and guidance.
