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Midwife

Christine, a Kenyan midwife leads the maternity services in MSF primary health centres in Jamtoli and Hakimpara, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Caption
Christine, a Kenyan midwife leads the maternity services in MSF primary health centres in Jamtoli and Hakimpara, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

As a midwife with MSF your experience in both complicated and normal deliveries will be essential.

From visiting expectant mums deep in the jungle to training birth attendants in busy maternity departments in big hospital settings, our midwives are a vital part of most project teams.

Responsibilities

As a Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) midwife you'll work in both health centres and conduct outreach work in the community.

No matter what the context - natural disasters, conflicts or poverty-affected communities - babies will continue to be born and midwives will always be needed.

It's a challenging and rewarding role and you'll be responsible for some or all of the following: 

  • Pre- and post-delivery care
  • Deliveries, often complicated
  • Care of survivors of sexual violence
  • Setting up maternity departments in new health centres/hospitals
  • Working with community birth attendants to ensure safe community birthing practices
  • Running awareness programs in the community
  • Training local midwives
  • On-call care, often 24 hours

As a midwife with MSF, your experience in both complicated and normal deliveries will be essential.

You could be involved in setting up a mother-child health department in a rural clinic, providing reproductive health care from mobile clinics or treating patients in an urban hospital.

Your training skills will be crucial because you may be assigned to help traditional birth attendants develop new skills.

At the same time, you will need to learn from the women you treat to understand cross-cultural issues surrounding childbirth.

The tiny cramped compound is always buzzing with children's cries and laughter. There, we treat and fix almost anything and everything. Malaria (mostly), flu, broken bones, cuts, pneumonia... you name it!

ALICE GAUTREAU
|
Midwife

Application guide

Read our guide on the application process for all overseas roles

Role requirements

  • Valid Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) or Irish Nursing Board registration
  • Two year's post-qualification experience
  • Experience in supervising, managing and training others
  • Experience of obstetric emergencies/complicated deliveries, termination of pregnancy, sexual violence
  • Willingness to be regularly on call for difficult and complicated deliveries
  • Over three months experience of working in a low resource settings
  • Willingness to work in unstable areas
  • Adaptable and able to work in a multi-cultural team
  • Flexible and able to manage stress
  • Available for nine to twelve months

Please note that in order to work with MSF as a midwife, it is not necessary to also be qualified as a nurse.

Assets

  • Tropical nursing diploma
  • Knowledge of STDs/HIV/AIDS
  • Family planning experience
  • Community midwifery experience

Before you apply

Make sure you read our application process guide for an overview of what to expect when you apply for an overseas role.

We take your safety, security and wellbeing seriously. Please watch these videos before you decide whether or not to apply for this job.

Apply to be a midwife

Please only apply if you meet all of the requirements below. 

1/5

I have read and understood the role description, and feel I can fulfil this role

2/5

I have spent at least three months travelling or working in the developing world

3/5

Ireland is my place of residence and I have the right to live and work in Ireland

4/5

I have a valid passport

5/5

I am available for a minimum of nine to twelve months