Part four: Health professions

The practice of the profession of midwife includes performing the acts necessary for diagnosis, monitoring pregnancy and psychoprophylactic preparation for childbirth, as well as monitoring and performing childbirth and postnatal care for the mother and child, subject to the provisions of articles L. 4151-2 to L. 4151-4 and in accordance with the procedures laid down by the code of ethics of the profession, referred to in article L. 4127-1. The…

Midwives may, under conditions laid down by decree : 1° Prescribe certain vaccines, the list of which and, where applicable, the persons likely to benefit from them are determined by an order of the Minister for Health issued after consultation with the High Authority for Health and the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products; 2° Administer certain vaccines, the list of which and, where applicable, the…

In the event of maternal, foetal or neonatal pathology during pregnancy, childbirth or the postnatal period, and in the event of dystocic childbirth, the midwife must call in a doctor. Midwives may provide care prescribed by a doctor in the event of a pathological pregnancy or post-natal period.

Midwives may prescribe medical devices and medicinal products, the list of which is drawn up by the administrative authority and, where appropriate, updated following the placing on the market of a new medical device or medicinal product necessary for the practice of the profession of midwife, as well as examinations strictly necessary for the practice of their profession. They may also prescribe nicotine substitutes to all persons who regularly live…

The evidence of formal qualifications required in application of 1° of article L. 4111-1 is, for the practice of the profession of midwife : 1° Either the French State diploma in midwifery, for students who began the second year of the first cycle of studies in midwifery before 1st September 2024; 1° bis Or the French State diploma of doctor in midwifery; 2° Or, if the applicant is a national…

The Minister for Health or, by delegation, the Director General of the Centre National de Gestion may, after obtaining the opinion of a commission composed in particular of professionals, individually authorise nationals of a Member State of the European Union or of another State party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, who hold evidence of formal qualifications issued by one of these States, not meeting the conditions laid…

I.-Student midwives undergoing their training in France may be authorised to practise the profession of midwife as a replacement. These authorisations are issued for a limited period by the Conseil Départemental de l’Ordre des Sages-Femmes, which informs the State services. A decree, issued after consultation with the Conseil national de l’ordre des sages-femmes, lays down the conditions for application of this article, in particular the level of study required, the…

The training of persons preparing for the profession of midwife is provided in schools approved by the region and open to candidates of both sexes. The conditions governing the organisation and approval of these schools are laid down by regulation. The conditions for admission to midwifery schools are set by the provisions of article L. 631-1 of the Education Code.

By way of derogation from article L. 4151-7, the initial training of midwives may be organised within universities, subject to the agreement of the regional council. This agreement must, in particular, cover the arrangements for funding the training. An order by the ministers responsible for health and higher education sets out the terms and conditions of this integration into the university for the site or sites concerned.