Midwife

A midwife provides the clinical care and continuous support a woman needs through pregnancy, labour and the weeks after birth.

Median salary: $109,900; 3.7%vs last year, before tax
People employed: 19,400; 2.1%vs last year
Projected growth: +26.7%; to 2035
AI exposure*: Low; 2 out of 10
Average hours: 41/wk; +1h vs all jobs
Shortage status: In shortage; national

You might work in a hospital maternity unit, a birth centre or on a community caseload that follows the same women through their pregnancies.
Unlike nursing, midwifery lets you manage a straightforward pregnancy and birth on your own, calling an obstetrician only when something becomes complex.
You cannot work as a midwife until AHPRA registers you, and that means an approved midwifery degree or a nursing degree followed by midwifery study.

How much do midwifes earn?

The median full-time salary for a midwife is $109,900 per annum, before tax, up $22,600 since 2018.

In public hospitals, pay follows the enterprise agreement, so shift loadings, night and weekend penalties and on-call allowances lift the total, while agency and casual midwives usually earn a higher hourly rate with no paid leave. Senior clinical, education and management classifications raise the range further, and a postgraduate qualification is what opens most of them. Before you weigh up competing offers, ask how the roster works: whether the advertised salary already folds in the shift loadings, and how often you would be on call.

Median annual salary, 2018–2028

Median annual salary (AUD/year), Modelled trend anchored to a real ABS Employee Earnings figure, interim years are indicative, not a real yearly series. 2025-2028 is a projection from that anchor using the real ABS Wage Price Index annual growth rate (3.2%, June quarter 2026), not a role-specific forecast., Estimate
Period	Median annual salary (AUD/year)	Change
2018	87,300	-
2019	90,200	+2,900
2020	94,200	+4,000
2021	97,300	+3,100
2022	101,600	+4,300
2023	106,000	+4,400
2024	109,900	+3,900
2025estimated	113,400	+3,500
2026estimated	117,000	+3,600
2027projected	120,800	+3,800
2028projected	124,700	+3,900

The median salary rose by $22,600 between 2018 and 2024; the dashed line shows a projection to 2028 based on the real ABS Wage Price Index growth rate, not a role-specific forecast.

Full midwife salary breakdown →

What does a midwife do day to day?

The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.

Sitting with a woman through labour, reading how she is coping and adjusting pain relief and support as things change
Watching the fetal heart trace on a CTG monitor for a pattern that means calling the obstetrician straight away
Visiting mother and baby in the days after birth, picking up feeding difficulties or early signs of mood problems
Running antenatal appointments: checking blood pressure and growth, and explaining what the next few weeks will bring
Being redeployed to another ward or asked to stay on at the end of a shift when the hospital is short

What skills do midwifes need?

Employers look for clinical assessment and treatment, patient care and support, care planning and coordination, backed by cardiotocography (CTG) monitors fluency and strong written communication.

Specialist skills

Clinical assessment and treatment
Patient care and support
Care planning and coordination
Health education and advice

Software and tools

cardiotocography (CTG) monitors
ultrasound scanning equipment
partograph charts
electronic health records (EHR)
blood pressure and fetal Doppler devices

General skills

Written communication
Attention to detail
Empathy and interpersonal care
Problem solving

Specialist skills

Clinical assessment and treatment: A midwife reads labour as it unfolds, checking the baby's heart rate, the mother's blood pressure and how the cervix is progressing, then decides whether to continue or call an obstetrician. The same assessment skills cover newborn checks in the first days.
Patient care and support: Midwives stay with a woman through labour rather than checking in from a desk, offering pain relief, suggesting positions and adjusting support as the contraction pattern changes. That continuous presence is what many women remember about their care.
Care planning and coordination: A midwife books a woman in, sets out the schedule of antenatal visits and arranges referrals when a pregnancy becomes complex, keeping the GP, obstetrician and hospital team working from the same plan. In caseload models the same midwife follows that plan from first visit to postnatal discharge.
Health education and advice: Midwives explain what to expect at each stage, from morning sickness to newborn feeding, and tell families which symptoms need attention straight away. Advice given at discharge often shapes whether a new mother seeks help early or waits.

Software and tools

cardiotocography (CTG) monitors: Used in labour and for monitoring high-risk pregnancies, a CTG traces the baby's heart rate against contractions so a midwife can act on a tracing that looks wrong.
ultrasound scanning equipment: Midwives use bedside ultrasound to check the baby's position and presentation; formal growth scans are usually done by sonographers.
partograph charts: Plotted through labour, a partograph tracks cervical dilation, contractions and the baby's heart rate against time, showing at a glance whether progress has slowed.
electronic health records (EHR): Maternity records in public hospitals are kept in electronic health records, where a midwife documents antenatal visits, labour progress and postnatal checks that other clinicians then read.
blood pressure and fetal Doppler devices: A blood pressure cuff and handheld Doppler are the basic kit for every antenatal appointment, used to check for hypertension and to listen to the fetal heart from around the second trimester.

General skills

Written communication: Midwives write antenatal notes, labour summaries and discharge letters that the next clinician relies on, so a clear record of what was observed and decided matters as much as the care itself.
Attention to detail: Small changes in a baby's heart rate, a rising blood pressure or a mother's report of reduced movements are what prompt escalation, so noticing the detail is the safety net.
Empathy and interpersonal care: Birth is unpredictable and often frightening for families, so a midwife who listens, explains without jargon and stays calm through a change of plan keeps women informed rather than alone.
Problem solving: When labour slows or a newborn needs help breathing, a midwife works through what is happening with the team and adjusts the plan, often within minutes.

Is the job growing?

About 19,400 people work as midwifes in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 26.7% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.

Employment, 2015–2024, projected to 2035

Employment (workers), Modelled trend anchored to a real Jobs and Skills Australia employment figure, interim years are indicative, not a real yearly series, Estimate
Period	Employment (workers)	Change
2015	15,700	-
2016	16,000	+300
2017	16,400	+400
2018	16,900	+500
2019	17,200	+300
2020	17,700	+500
2021	18,000	+300
2022	18,500	+500
2023	19,000	+500
2024	19,400	+400
2027projected	21,000	+1,600
2029projected	22,100	+1,100
2031projected	23,300	+1,200
2033projected	24,600	+1,300
2035projected	25,900	+1,300

Employment rose by 3,700 between 2015 and 2024; the dashed line shows the official projection to 2035.

How do you become a midwife?

Here's the path most midwifes take, step by step.

1
Finish Year 12 with the right subjects
English and a science subject such as biology or chemistry keep the direct-entry degree open, so check the prerequisites at each university before you choose subjects.
2
Complete a Bachelor of Midwifery
The degree takes three years and includes supervised clinical placements in maternity units, so you build hours in a birth suite and antenatal clinic before you graduate.
3
Or come across from nursing
If you have a nursing degree already, a graduate diploma or masters in midwifery takes about eighteen months to two years and leads to the same registration.
4
Register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia
AHPRA handles registration and renewal, and you need to meet the English language and criminal history requirements and keep up ongoing education to stay registered.
5
Start in a graduate program, then specialise
Most new midwives begin in a hospital graduate year with extra supervision, and a postgraduate qualification later opens senior clinical, education and management work.

Study routes we have checked

Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.

Bachelor of Midwifery
A recognised route into this role
Complete an NMBA-approved midwifery programme and satisfy registration requirements. Any nursing-entry prerequisites for a particular programme also apply. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.
Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Midwifery
A recognised route into this role
Complete an NMBA-approved midwifery programme and satisfy registration requirements. Any nursing-entry prerequisites for a particular programme also apply. This catalogue groups awards: verify the chosen provider, programme and intake; the family-level link is not confirmation that every offering is approved.

Ready to apply as a midwife?

Whether you're working toward becoming a midwife or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.

Resume templateExample bullet points grounded in this role's real tasks.View & download →Cover letter templateA structured letter with role-specific example content.View & download →Interview questionsWhat people are actually asked, and why.View & download →

What jobs can a midwife move to?

Moving into Nurse Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $28,300 a year more on average.

Midwife

$109,900

$138,200+$28,300

$135,200+$25,300

$114,000+$4,100

$114,000+$4,100

$135,200+$25,300

$109,200−$700

$117,000+$7,100

Nurse ManagerRecorded move
$138,200+$28,300
Director of NursingRecorded move
$135,200+$25,300
Registered NurseRecorded move
$114,000+$4,100
Nurse PractitionerRecorded move
$114,000+$4,100

Recorded in tax dataSuggested from skill overlap

Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.

Move to	Typical pay change	Overlap	Retraining
Nurse Manager Midwives bring clinical leadership and care coordination to nurse management, with additional management study required.Known move	+$28,300	13%	requalify
Director of Nursing Midwives bring operational and clinical leadership to director of nursing roles, with further study in health management required.Known move	+$25,300	33%	reskill
Registered Nurse Midwives bring maternal and neonatal assessment skills to registered nurse work, with a short bridging course in general nursing.Known move	+$4,100	55%	short course
Nurse Practitioner Midwives bring advanced clinical judgement and autonomous care to nurse practitioner work, extending their scope within endorsed practice.Known move	+$4,100	64%	minimal
Nurse Educator Midwives bring clinical midwifery expertise and mentoring skills to nurse education, with further study in teaching required.Known move	−$700	24%	requalify

Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.

Who works as a midwife?

The typical midwife is 38 years old; 100% are women, 43% work full-time, and full-timers average 41 hours a week.

38
Median age: 100%
Female share: 43%
Full-time: +1h
vs all-jobs avg

What's it like being a midwife?

Your week follows a roster of shifts, and no two are the same: an antenatal clinic, a labour that runs twelve hours, a home visit to a mother struggling to feed her baby. The work is emotional as well as physical, because you are in the room for the best and worst days a family will have. You spend a lot of time on your feet and a lot of it listening, and both take energy. Midwives who like building trust over months and staying calm when a birth turns settle into it well, while a need for predictable hours makes the roster the hardest thing to live with.

What people like

You stay with the same women. On a continuity caseload you already know the family before labour starts, which changes how the birth goes and how much you can help.
You are there at the moment it happens. Few jobs put you in the room when a family meets their baby, and that moment stays with most midwives for a long time.
The clinical range is wide. Antenatal checks, reading fetal traces, delivering a baby and screening for postnatal depression all fall in the same shift, so you use your hands and your judgement together.
You can change settings without changing careers. Hospital units, birth centres, community caseloads and remote clinics all need midwives, so there is room to move as your life changes.

What people find hard

The roster reaches into your home life. Nights and weekends come with the territory, and shifts are published weeks ahead, which makes family plans and study hard to arrange.
Short staffing decides your day. When the unit is busy you stay back after a shift or get moved to another ward, which is galling when you had planned to follow one woman through her labour.
The difficult births stay with you. A stillbirth or a serious haemorrhage carries weight for a long time, and many midwives seek debriefing, peer support or counselling at some point.
Clinic days can feel like a conveyor belt. Fifteen minute appointments leave little room for the questions that matter, and running behind schedule is normal rather than unusual.

Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.

Which industries employ midwifes?

Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of midwifes.

Top employing industries

1Health Care and Social Assistance

Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.

Highest qualification held
Bachelor degree		65.2%
Postgraduate		29.2%
Diploma / Advanced Diploma		3.2%
Year 12 or below		0.9%
Certificate III/IV		0.2%

Will AI replace midwifes?

2out of 10

Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.

The work rates low for AI exposure because most of it happens in the room: assessing a woman in labour, supporting her through contractions and making the call when a birth becomes an emergency. Software handles the edges, with CTG decision-support tools flagging a deteriorating fetal heart trace and electronic records drafting much of the documentation. For someone training now, learn the monitoring and record systems your unit uses and keep building the hands-on assessment and communication skills, which is where your value sits.

How a typical week splits

AI already does a lot of this

of a typical working week

None of the main tasks in this job.

35%

AI helps, you still do it

of a typical working week

Fetal monitoring and CTG interpretation
20% of the week
Decision-support software can flag a suspicious trace, but a midwife still decides whether to call the obstetrician.
Documentation, handover and referrals
15% of the week
Electronic records and dictation cut the writing time for notes, discharge summaries and referrals, though the clinical summary stays yours to get right.

65%

Stays with people

of a typical working week

Labour, birth and immediate postnatal care
35% of the week
Being in the room, coaching a woman through contractions and resuscitating a newborn if needed is physical, unpredictable work.
Antenatal appointments and health education
30% of the week
Checking blood pressure and growth and talking a woman through the weeks ahead depend on hands, eyes and a conversation.

How we work this out

We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.

Common questions about becoming a midwife

Straight answers to the questions people ask most.

How much do midwives earn in Australia?

$109,900 per year before tax is the median for full-time midwives. Public hospital roles bring penalty rates and on-call allowances on top, while agency and casual midwives often earn more per hour without paid leave.

How do you become a midwife?

The most direct route is a three-year Bachelor of Midwifery from school, which includes clinical placements in maternity units. Registered nurses can add a graduate diploma or masters instead, which takes about eighteen months. Either way, you cannot work until AHPRA registers you.

Are midwives in demand in Australia?

Midwives are currently in shortage nationally, and employment is projected to grow 26.7% over the decade to 2035. For someone finishing a degree, that points to hospitals still recruiting, so apply to several graduate programs during your final year.

Will AI replace midwives?

Machines cannot be in the room, assess a woman by hand or make the call during a haemorrhage, so the role rates low for automation. What AI changes is the paperwork: it flags a suspicious CTG trace, drafts notes and pulls together a discharge summary. Learn the monitoring and record systems your hospital uses, and keep your effort on clinical judgement and the conversation with the woman.

What else can a midwife do?

Midwives move into registered nurse roles with a short bridging course, into nurse practitioner work with a masters and endorsement, or into education and management. Management roles pay $28,300 more, and they use the coordination and clinical judgement you build on the ward. A smaller number set up an independent practice or caseload, which means finding clients, arranging indemnity insurance and accepting an income that rises and falls with your caseload.

Is midwifery harder than nursing?

Midwifery is narrower and more intense, because you take responsibility for two patients at once and stay with them through labour. Nursing gives you a wider range of patients, conditions and settings. If you are unsure which fits, ask a hospital whether you can shadow a shift on a birth suite before you enrol.

Related roles

Not sure this is you? Take the career quiz and get a ranked shortlist of roles that fit how you like to work.

How much do midwifes earn?

What does a midwife do day to day?

What skills do midwifes need?

Specialist skills

Software and tools

General skills

Specialist skills

Software and tools

General skills

Is the job growing?

How do you become a midwife?

Study routes we have checked

Ready to apply as a midwife?

What jobs can a midwife move to?

Who works as a midwife?

What's it like being a midwife?

What people like

What people find hard

Which industries employ midwifes?

Top employing industries

Will AI replace midwifes?

How a typical week splits

Common questions about becoming a midwife

Related roles

Career advice