Are self employed midwives trained differently or do they have different qualifications from NHS midwives?
No they aren't trained differently and ALL UK Midwives have the same qualification and initial education. Midwifery in the UK is a tightly regulated profession.
All midwives within the UK must a be a registered midwife (RM) registered with the Nursing and Midwifery council (NMC) , in fact it is against the law to use the title 'midwife' in the UK without being a registered midwife!
The NMC sets standards for midwifery education, training and conduct . Before registration is accepted by the NMC the midwife must have successfully completed an approved midwifery programme of education. They must also meet the NMC requirements of good health and good character. In the UK midwifery education and training programmes are only run at NMC approved educational institutions at a university. Many self employed midwives have spent lots of time working in the NHS in both high risk and low risk settings, although some have decided to be self employed as soon as they qualify.
Self employed midwives have chosen to work outside of the NHS but along with their NHS colleagues are still subject to the same midwives rules and codes of conduct, annual reviews and equipment checks.
There are currently over 35,000 qualified midwives on the register, this includes all self employed midwives (Independent Midwives).
If I book with a Self Employed Midwife can I still use NHS services?
Yes you can. You are not opting out of the NHS but rather utilising a private service. This does not mean that you loose your entitlement to NHS services and care. You are fully entitled to all the blood tests, medicines, facilities and scans that any woman under full NHS care can have. If you need to see a Dr or require emergency care the NHS will provide it. Self employed Midwives can refer you to the NHS and are able to arrange a consultant appointment or hospital admission at any time if required.
Are Self employed Midwives insured?
Insurance does not guarantee safety or represent competence for any practitioner either Self employed or NHS.
All self employed midwives providing midwifery services currently work without the benefit of Professional Indemnity Insurance for care during labour and birth. We would like to have insurance but there are no insurance companies that provide it given the small numbers of self employed midwives within the UK, currently around 110, with only 6 in Scotland (including us) that provide care during birth.
Sadly there are no guarantees that problems will not arise regardless of where you choose to give birth or who you choose to provide your care. The NHS and it's staff are covered by it's own insurers but it is facing huge bills in relation to compensation claims which have been made by patients after giving birth on maternity units. The amount in compensation being sought has grown from £11.8 million in 2006 to £85.8 million in 2010, (these figures have been released by the National Health Service Litigation Authority.)
Clearly insurance does not protect you or your baby from injury; good practice, appropriate care and skills, trained professionals and knowledge helps to protect you, but even in these circumstances problems can arise with you and/or your baby that are no-ones fault, this is a sad fact of life. To be awarded compensation of any kind, negligence has to be proven and harm occurred. Insurance is a monetary award after negligence has been proven. In the case of self employed midwives there would be no insurance company to fund an award for compensation if negligence on the part of the midwife was proven, however this does not mean that you have no redress or that any midwife is not accountable for her/his actions. An award made against a self employed midwife in a case of proven negligence would be based on her assets, so would be unlikely to be large.
It is very important that you take into consideration the above when choosing to enter into a contract with any Self employed Midwife
Can I afford one to one care from a self employed midwife?
You will know this better than us! but here are some things to consider.
Most self employed midwives want to be paid in full by the time you are 36weeks into your pregnancy if you have booked a full package of care, however we are happy to discuss flexible payment terms. Payments can be made by monthly direct debit, bank transfer, cheque or cash as staged payments. An initial £500 deposit is always applicable at your booking appointment. This is non-returnable even if you then change your mind as we may well have turned down another woman who was due around the same time as you. We do not book more than 4 mothers who are due in one month. Staged payments are non-returnable to reflect work already done.
If you choose to or need to birth in hospital for any reason after booking a homebirth your fees remain the same.
If you book late; any time up to 36weeks, the full fee is still applicable depending on what service you would like.
If you have private medical insurance with some international companies eg. Bupa, your fees will be covered. It is your responsibility to check with your own company to ascertain this. We provide you with appropriate invoices.
If you are from overseas and NOT entitled to free NHS care we are around £1000 cheaper than standard NHS maternity care. You would still be entitled to free emergency care on the NHS as a visitor to the UK.
No they aren't trained differently and ALL UK Midwives have the same qualification and initial education. Midwifery in the UK is a tightly regulated profession.
All midwives within the UK must a be a registered midwife (RM) registered with the Nursing and Midwifery council (NMC) , in fact it is against the law to use the title 'midwife' in the UK without being a registered midwife!
The NMC sets standards for midwifery education, training and conduct . Before registration is accepted by the NMC the midwife must have successfully completed an approved midwifery programme of education. They must also meet the NMC requirements of good health and good character. In the UK midwifery education and training programmes are only run at NMC approved educational institutions at a university. Many self employed midwives have spent lots of time working in the NHS in both high risk and low risk settings, although some have decided to be self employed as soon as they qualify.
Self employed midwives have chosen to work outside of the NHS but along with their NHS colleagues are still subject to the same midwives rules and codes of conduct, annual reviews and equipment checks.
There are currently over 35,000 qualified midwives on the register, this includes all self employed midwives (Independent Midwives).
If I book with a Self Employed Midwife can I still use NHS services?
Yes you can. You are not opting out of the NHS but rather utilising a private service. This does not mean that you loose your entitlement to NHS services and care. You are fully entitled to all the blood tests, medicines, facilities and scans that any woman under full NHS care can have. If you need to see a Dr or require emergency care the NHS will provide it. Self employed Midwives can refer you to the NHS and are able to arrange a consultant appointment or hospital admission at any time if required.
Are Self employed Midwives insured?
Insurance does not guarantee safety or represent competence for any practitioner either Self employed or NHS.
All self employed midwives providing midwifery services currently work without the benefit of Professional Indemnity Insurance for care during labour and birth. We would like to have insurance but there are no insurance companies that provide it given the small numbers of self employed midwives within the UK, currently around 110, with only 6 in Scotland (including us) that provide care during birth.
Sadly there are no guarantees that problems will not arise regardless of where you choose to give birth or who you choose to provide your care. The NHS and it's staff are covered by it's own insurers but it is facing huge bills in relation to compensation claims which have been made by patients after giving birth on maternity units. The amount in compensation being sought has grown from £11.8 million in 2006 to £85.8 million in 2010, (these figures have been released by the National Health Service Litigation Authority.)
Clearly insurance does not protect you or your baby from injury; good practice, appropriate care and skills, trained professionals and knowledge helps to protect you, but even in these circumstances problems can arise with you and/or your baby that are no-ones fault, this is a sad fact of life. To be awarded compensation of any kind, negligence has to be proven and harm occurred. Insurance is a monetary award after negligence has been proven. In the case of self employed midwives there would be no insurance company to fund an award for compensation if negligence on the part of the midwife was proven, however this does not mean that you have no redress or that any midwife is not accountable for her/his actions. An award made against a self employed midwife in a case of proven negligence would be based on her assets, so would be unlikely to be large.
It is very important that you take into consideration the above when choosing to enter into a contract with any Self employed Midwife
Can I afford one to one care from a self employed midwife?
You will know this better than us! but here are some things to consider.
Most self employed midwives want to be paid in full by the time you are 36weeks into your pregnancy if you have booked a full package of care, however we are happy to discuss flexible payment terms. Payments can be made by monthly direct debit, bank transfer, cheque or cash as staged payments. An initial £500 deposit is always applicable at your booking appointment. This is non-returnable even if you then change your mind as we may well have turned down another woman who was due around the same time as you. We do not book more than 4 mothers who are due in one month. Staged payments are non-returnable to reflect work already done.
If you choose to or need to birth in hospital for any reason after booking a homebirth your fees remain the same.
If you book late; any time up to 36weeks, the full fee is still applicable depending on what service you would like.
If you have private medical insurance with some international companies eg. Bupa, your fees will be covered. It is your responsibility to check with your own company to ascertain this. We provide you with appropriate invoices.
If you are from overseas and NOT entitled to free NHS care we are around £1000 cheaper than standard NHS maternity care. You would still be entitled to free emergency care on the NHS as a visitor to the UK.
