Subsection 1: General duties of midwives.

The provisions of this Code of Ethics apply to midwives registered on the roll of the Association, to midwives performing a professional act under the conditions laid down in Article L. 4112-7 and to the student midwives referred to in Article L. 4151-6.

Midwives carry out their duties with respect for life and the human person. It is their duty to assist the competent authorities in their efforts to protect health.

All midwives are bound by professional secrecy in the interests of patients, in accordance with the conditions laid down by law. Secrecy covers everything that comes to the knowledge of the midwife in the exercise of her profession, i.e. not only what has been entrusted to her, but also what she has seen, heard or understood. The midwife must ensure that those assisting her in her work are instructed in…

Midwives have an obligation to maintain and improve their professional knowledge, in accordance with the obligation of continuing professional development provided for in articles L. 4153-1 and L. 4153-2. As part of their professional practice, midwives have a duty to contribute to the training of student midwives and their peers.

Midwives must treat all patients and new-born babies with the same conscience, regardless of their origin, morals and family situation, their membership or non-membership of a particular ethnic group, nation, race or religion, their disability or state of health, their reputation or the feelings they may have towards them, and regardless of the child’s sex.

The midwife must respect the right of all persons to choose freely their practitioner, midwife or doctor, and the establishment where they wish to receive care or give birth; she must facilitate the exercise of this right. The patient’s wishes must be respected as far as possible. When the patient is unable to express her wishes, her relatives must be notified and informed, unless this is urgent, impossible or the…

Midwives may not alienate their professional independence in any form whatsoever. The midwife’s remuneration may not be based on standards of productivity, hourly output or any other criterion which would result in the midwife’s professional independence being limited or abandoned or in the quality of care being compromised.

When a midwife participates in a public information campaign of an educational, scientific or health nature, whatever the means of dissemination, she will only report confirmed data, will exercise caution and will be mindful of the repercussions of her comments on the public. It is not intended to profit from its intervention in the context of its professional activity or to benefit the organisations within which it works or to…

Midwives must have suitable facilities and sufficient technical means at their place of practice. Under no circumstances may midwives practise their profession in conditions that may compromise the safety and quality of medical care and procedures.

Midwifery should not be practised as a business.