PREGNANCY The rise of the male midwife?

Although the number of male midwives in the UK is still very small, more and more men are now training up for this career. So how would you feel about having a male midwife through your pregnancy and birth? Read on, and then please let us know in our poll.

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According to the latest figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council, in 2016 there were 42,979 female midwives and 188 male midwives.

This compares to 41,106 female midwives in 2012 and 173 male midwives.

While this isn't many, the figures show the number of male midwives is on the rise, with more and more males becoming interested in the profession.

So how would you feel about having a male midwife while pregnant? The response to this question on our Netmums Coffeehouse forum, was overwhelming.

While some mums said they would find giving birth in front of a male midwife ‘embarrassing’ or felt they ‘couldn’t empathise with you’, many said it wouldn’t bother them at all.

Which is no surprise to Mark Harris, who has been working as a midwife for more than 20 years.

Mark, who now runs Birthing Awareness, which teaches couples about childbirth, told Netmums: ‘Most women I speak to who’ve had a male midwife are very positive about it.

‘Usually they say they feel there’s no judgement about their experience giving birth. That might be because a man has no idea what it feels like to give birth – as such, we don’t have any frames of reference to judge a woman’s experience.

‘Others said they felt they had space to make their own choices.’

Although men have worked as doctors, nurses and obstetricians for years, they haven’t always been able to work as midwives.

It wasn’t until after the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act that this changed. The first male midwives started working in UK hospitals in 1983.

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‘A few women have said no to a male midwife’

Mark, who trained as a nurse before moving to midwifery, has been at the birth of hundreds of babies.

And while he’s experienced a few women who didn’t want a male midwife, the majority have been happy to have him there.

He said, ‘I’d always get a colleague to ask the woman’s permission in principle that she was comfortable with a male midwife.

‘A few at this point say no.

‘For those that are happy, I’d then go and meet them. I’m very tall so after they’d got over the surprise that I look more like a road worker, I would then say how much I’d love to be involved in the birth of their baby.

‘But if they had any reservations about me being there I explained that I wouldn’t take it personally. I’ve never been refused at that point.’

‘I had a male midwife and he was wonderful’

His experiences are reflected by mums in our Coffeehouse forum who have posted about male midwives.

Emma P wrote, ‘I had a male midwife throughout my labour with my 2nd child, and he was absolutely wonderful.

'My husband was a bit freaked out when he first saw him, but as I said at the time, I wouldn't have minded if he had had 2 heads, as long as he helped to safely deliver my baby!’

And Debbie S wrote, ‘I had a male midwife. He reassured and helped me from the beginning to the end of my delivery, just as well as any female midwife would have.’

Becoming a midwife

Mark says he often gets calls from men interested in becoming midwives.

To register to practice, you need a degree in midwifery or – if you are a qualified nurse – you can do a short midwifery programme. You’ll then be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

However places on midwifery courses are often hugely oversubscribed.

Yet more midwives – male and female – are urgently needed. According to the Royal College of Midwives, England alone is short of 3500 full-time midwives.

Mark adds, ‘I get calls from men about the idea of becoming a male midwife. And I always say it’s enhanced my life beyond measure, being involved with birth.

‘When I walked into a birthing suite for the first time, I saw a mystery unfolding. It totally blew me away.’

What do you think about male midwives? Please take part in our poll below and let us know!