Midwifery should be a degree of its own because there are major differences between the two professions. Here in the UK if you have a nursing degree you can go on to do the midwifery degree in 18 months instead of 3 years, if you are not a nurse you can do the degree by direct entry which takes around 3-4 years. I am a midwife and was a registered nurse prior to doing the midwifery degree so I did it in 18 months and the responsibilities that I have as a midwife is completely different from those that I had as a nurse the approach is also very different and as a midwife I have greater autonomy than I had as a nurse, also the women I am seeing are not sick they are pregnant which is a natural process so I am not nursing them I am working with them it is more of a partnership, so it is very different from nursing and should be kept separate.

Thank you for your reply it is nice speaking with a colleague. If something goes wrong with the mum the midwife will notify the doctor, however, the midwife still keeps the mum as a client and care is shared between the midwife and the doctor and if all is well at the time labor begins the midwife will take the lead in her care and delivery and we liase with the doctor throughout, this is what happens at the hospital that I work at, we always follow the woman right through. I am glad that you mentioned the direct entry midwives because this has been a bone of contention in the UK since direct enrty begun and it has created a them and us situation. I know that I will be slaughtered for this but I feel that all midwives should have a nursing degree first and some experience working as a nurse and my colleagues who are nurse trained feel the same. I was on labor ward yesterday working with qualified direct entry midwives and we had women who had medical problems and were high risk, I had to take these women because the direct entry midwives did not have a clue, they appeared to be not able to cope with the medical problems,my nursing skills as well as my midwifery skills kicked in and I sailed through and all three of my women delivered safely with no complications, although I was a little stressed afterwards. I also feel that the midwives who are nurses tend to have to carry the direct entry midwives. Advocates for the direct entry route will argue that a person does not need to be a nurse to become a midwife, however, I totally disagree because I know that my nurse experience and traing has been a vital part of my role as a midwife many times. I have worked with some excellent direct entry midwives, however, there just does not appear to be many of them in my experience.