Midwife: A Profession With Multiple Skills.

Contrary to what is often imagined, the profession of midwife is not limited to delivering babies. In France, around 24,000 midwives have a wider range of skills than just monitoring pregnancy and assisting with childbirth. We invite you to discover all that these healthcare professionals can do for women's health.

"They can provide gynecological follow-up."

With the problem of medical deserts, more and more women are facing difficulties in accessing healthcare. It is estimated that 1 out of 6 women in France does not have gynecological follow-up.

It is often ignored, but midwives can provide gynecological follow-up for healthy women throughout their lives. They can perform cervical-vaginal screening smears and prescribe biological tests.

If you do not have a particular pathology, you can consult a midwife for all of your follow-up and for screening for cervical cancer and STIs.

They can prescribe a contraceptive method.

Women who do not receive gynecological follow-up also face difficulties accessing contraception. According to official estimates, 10% of these women have already given up contraception due to its cost, and 84% of them have encountered difficulties in obtaining abortions.

On the issue of contraception methods, midwives also have an essential role to play. A midwife can inform you and accompany you in choosing a contraceptive method.

This healthcare professional can prescribe the chosen device, including emergency contraceptives, and provide follow-up care. If you opt for a device such as an IUD or an implant, for example, the midwife can perform the insertion and removal.

Note: Midwives can also provide a prevention consultation for young underage women to discuss contraception and sexuality. For minors, this consultation is fully covered by health insurance and can be anonymous.

3- They can perform medical abortions.

Since 2016, midwives can perform medical abortions. This authorization was given to them in order to facilitate access to voluntary termination of pregnancy, particularly in urban areas.

Young underage women who wish to have an abortion but do not want or cannot obtain parental consent can turn to a midwife. As with prevention consultations, they then benefit from anonymity and free care.

4- They can vaccinate.

Lesser-known fact, midwives can vaccinate children and adults.

More specifically, a midwife is authorized to vaccinate:
• newborns (BCG and hepatitis B)
• women
• people in the close entourage of the child or pregnant woman

For adults, the vaccines concerned are DTP, MMR, HPV, hepatitis B, whooping cough, flu, and meningococcus C.

Since March 2021, midwives also have the right to vaccinate against Covid-19.

5- They can prescribe nicotine substitutes.

The most well-known aspect of the midwife profession is of course the medical monitoring and follow-up of pregnancy. Midwives can, for example, conduct childbirth and parenting preparation sessions.

But did you know that they can also help pregnant women and their loved ones quit smoking?

Since 2016, these healthcare professionals have provided tobacco consultations and are authorized to prescribe nicotine substitutes to pregnant women and their loved ones until the end of the postnatal period.

If you want to learn more about the multiple skills of midwives, we invite you to visit the website of the Order of Midwives (link below).