Maternity support worker
Also called midwife assistant, midwifery assistant, assistant to midwife
Maternity support workers work together in a team with midwives and health professionals within the occupational fields of nursing and midwifery. They assist midwives and women in childbirth by providing the necessary support, care and advice during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period, assist births and assist in providing care for the new-born.
What you'd do
Midwifery associate professionals · ILO- Providing advice to women, families and communities on health, nutrition, hygiene, exercise, birth and emergency plans, breastfeeding, infant care, family planning and contraception, lifestyle and other topics related to pregnancy and childbirth
- Assessing progress during pregnancy and childbirth, and recognizing signs and symptoms requiring referral to a health professional
- Providing delivery care, usually only in the absence of identified potential complications, or assisting medical doctors or midwifery professionals with delivery care
- Providing care and support to women and newborns following childbirth, monitoring their health status, and identifying signs and symptoms requiring referral to a health professional
- Indoors
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Constant contact with people, including the public
- Good freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines now and then
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospectsMany jobs will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,500 a month (Bulgaria) to €8,200 (Luxembourg), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among technicians and associate professionals in the EU, women earn 16% less per hour than men. Technicians and associate professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually post-secondary or a short degreePost-secondary training or a short degree in nursing and midwifery is the usual route.
946 institutions in the EU offer health and welfare bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.20 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 4 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for midwifery associate professionals. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).