Midwives help mothers-to-be have as comfortable a delivery as possible. They’re ever-vigilant of potential complications and know how to act within these eventualities. As a prospective student of midwifery, there are several small things you need to know before applying, regardless of program. In this article, we’ll talk about the most important requirement for entry into any midwifery program: getting registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). Although your institution will have automatically enrolled you as a student during undergrad provided you were in a course approved by the NMBA, student registration is insufficient to practice as a midwife.
You need a few things to get enrolled with the NMBA, beyond just doing your undergraduate nursing degree. Bear in mind the following list is written for the sake of brevity and we encourage you to investigate the details illustrated for the most comprehensive picture of what’s required. The purpose of this list is to give you a broad sweep of what you need to do and how you get there.
Another important thing to note are your obligations to the NMBA after graduating from your postgraduate course. In addition to CPD, if you ever want to prescribe scheduled medicines as a midwife, you’ll have to jump through a couple more hoops detailed here. Quote from a 2010 amendment to the statement that gives eligible registered midwives the right to practice:
“Eligible midwife, but NOT qualified to obtain endorsement under section 94 to prescribe Schedule 2, 3, 4 & 8 medicines required for midwifery practice in accordance with State and Territory legislation.”
If this is something you aspire to do, you can apply to become a midwife eligible to prescribe scheduled medications here.
Hopefully this has given you a slightly better idea of what’s required to get into midwifery and the subsequent NMBA obligations. Remember, this is mainly a primer. For full detail, we recommend you follow the links provided in this article and study points relevant to you carefully. Good luck!