In Portland midwife refers to a health care professional who provides care to childbearing women at different stages. The various stages include during, pregnancy, postpartum period, labor, birth, and the period between pregnancies. They also go ahead to take care for the newborn baby and assist the mother with the breastfeeding process. A midwife can be of either gender, although the males are still referred to as midwives.

Midwives work in a wide range of health care environments including small stand-alone maternity facilities, large general hospitals, private maternity hospitals, communities, group practice, birth centers, and with general practitioners. Most of them work together as a team and with other medical professionals and the support staff. This however does not limit them from practicing independently in their own health facilities. Some opt for this option.

Besides giving care to females during birth and pregnancy, these professionals also offer primary and medical care that relates to reproductive health, yearly gynecological exams, menopausal care, and family planning. They have the needed training and education to apprehend changes in usual advancements of labor and deal with divergences from normal progress. They also help in high risk circumstances that might come up during labor process.

The assistance offered by midwives to childbearing ladies and other women generally is individualized and mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically suited to them. This profession is a female empowering model of maternity health care and is utilized in all countries of the globe. Its purpose is to reduce or eliminate complications during birth and postpartum period. Because of the nature of the job, practitioners work in shifts.

The work shift comprises of night and day duties with all specialists entitled to both duties. In Portland city, the work condition and pay scale of midwife is determined by NHS pay system called Agenda for Change. Freshly qualified midwives earn at least 21, 388 US Dollars as salary per year. Senior managers or midwife consultants have the ability to be paid up to 80, 000 US Dollars in a year.

There are a number of ways one may follow to be a certified midwife. Many of those routes allow one to be qualified and become a certified practitioner who may receive a license to practice their career with no hindrances. The main routes followed by many licensed midwives are certified nurse-midwives, certified midwives, certified professional midwives, and direct entry midwife. All the named qualifications require that one hold proof of certification within their field of expertise before being licensed. There exists a body responsible for regulating the activities of the professionals.

Direct entry professionals are independent practitioners trained in the field of midwifery through various means such as apprenticeship, midwifery school, or self-study. They may also learn by undertaking university or college-based programs in the nursing discipline. They provide the service in out-of-hospital environment. Examples of these kinds of practitioners are registered and licensed midwives.

Any Portland midwife must meet all the required academic and experience requirements before getting the license to operate freely on the general public. This makes them safe and trust worth at their job. Cases that these specialists cannot solve are normally referred to obstetricians.