What makes a great midwife

Thanks, you've subscribed! Share this free subscription offer with your friends. Email to a Friend. Karen Keast is a freelance health journalist who writes news and feature articles for HealthTimes. In a media career spanning 20 years, Karen has worked as a senior journalist in newspapers and television. She has covered the grind of daily news and worked as a politics reporter at countless state and federal elections.

Since venturing into freelance writing five years ago, Karen has found her niche in writing about the health sector for editors, businesses and corporations. Karen has interviewed the heads of peak health organisations in Australia and overseas, and written hundreds of news and feature articles covering the dedicated work of health professionals who tread the corridors of hospitals and health services, universities, aged care facilities and practices, day in and day out.

But interpersonal skills are an important part of being successful. Good people skills may mean different things to different people. But in general, having strong interpersonal skills means being able to work well with many types of people. It also means having the ability to interact and communicate with people in different situations. Midwives deal with patients, family members and other medical professionals. Being able to work effectively with people at different levels in different capacities is an essential part of the job.

While you do not have to love everyone you meet, you must be non-judgmental, so you can provide appropriate care in a professional manner. Another important skill to have is good listening skills. Most people realize good communication skills are needed for medical professionals including midwives.

But the part of communication that sometimes takes a back seat is listening. Being able to listen to your patients helps you have a better understanding of their needs and also helps build rapport. It is also helpful to have good problem-solving skills. Working as a midwife, you encounter different situations and problems. Some situations require a straightforward solution. But there are other times you may need to think outside the box.

Problem-solving skills require you to use your clinical knowledge and examine the situation objectively. In addition to problem-solving skills, you need to have good judgment.

Labor and delivery does not always go as it should. Often, getting NVQ 2 will lead to having more responsibility in terms of the role you are fulfilling. You should apply directly to the Health and Social Care Trust that has advertised the position in local press or Job Centres. Careers webchat is available from 9. Outside of these hours, or if all advisers are busy, you can ask questions online. Chat with a careers adviser in Northern Ireland.

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If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads. Chat with a careers adviser Careers webchat is available from 9. Conclusion: Having good communication skills made the greatest contribution to being 'a good midwife', while being compassionate, kind, supportive affective domain , knowledgeable cognitive domain and skilful psychomotor domain also made major contributions. Being involved in education and research were necessary requirements, and midwives' abilities to treat women as individuals, adopt a caring approach, and 'be there' for women were essential.

A good midwife can compensate for poor management systems, but women should be able to choose who provides their care, and partners should be involved in this care.