Nursing Act, 2005 (Act No. 33 of 2005)RegulationsRegulations regarding the Scope of Practice for Nurses and Midwives, 20224. Scope of practice of a midwife |
| (1) | A midwife takes responsibility and accountability of the following: |
| (a) | advocating for the mother, neonate and family and facilitating the establishment and maintenance of an environment in which midwifery care can be provided safely and optimally; |
| (b) | providing safe and quality midwifery care in a scientific, integrated and evidence-based approach in all health care settings; |
| (c) | reviewing midwifery practice continuously against professional standards within relevant context; and take responsibility to ensure implementation in practice; |
| (d) | practicing in terms of the code of ethics for Nursing Practitioners in South Africa; |
| (e) | promoting , maintaining , restoring and supporting the health status of a woman during pregnancy, labour and puerperium; |
| (f) | promoting health and wellness of the woman , and her family for pregnancy, birth, and parenthood; |
| (g) | promoting comprehensive reproductive health within the family context; |
| (h) | providing evidence-based information to support the woman's decision making across the midwifery continuum of care; |
| (i) | assessing and diagnosing the health needs and facilitating the attainment of optimum physical and psycho-social health for the mother and neonate; |
| (j) | identifying, preventing and managing complications of pregnancy, labour and puerperium; |
| (k) | diagnosing and prioritising individual midwifery care needs, based on a comprehensive analysis and interpretation of data; |
| (l) | developing an integrated comprehensive care plan for a woman during pregnancy, labour and puerperium in all health care settings; |
| (m) | developing an integrated comprehensive care plan for a neonate in all health care settings; |
| (n) | delegating midwifery care, ensuring that such are is only delegated to competent practitioners or persons; |
| (o) | executing of a programme of treatment or medication prescribed by a registered person; |
| (p) | providing emergency midwifery care in accordance with relevant guidelines or protocols; |
| (q) | integrating psycho-social care in the management of mothers, neonates, families and communities; |
| (r) | providing appropriate palliative and end of life care within midwifery practice; |
| (s) | monitoring and comprehensively documenting the health status of the woman during pregnancy, labour and puerperium to detect and manage complications; |
| (t) | monitoring and comprehensively documenting the health status of the neonate to detect and manage complications; |
| (u) | referring a mother and neonate with high risk conditions to an appropriate level of care within the continuum of care; |
| (v) | creating and maintaining concise, complete, accurate and legible midwifery records; |
| (w) | providing direction for the safe implementation of maternal and neonatal care in line with relevant protocols and guidelines; |
| (x) | ensuring disaster preparedness and response; |
| (y) | preventing and managing maternal and neonatal adverse events; and |
| (z) | managing and coordinating a midwifery unit according to the relevant guidelines and protocols. |
| (2) | The midwife must implement and managing quality improvement plans for own context of practice. |
| (3) | The scope of practice of Midwives shall include supervision and mentoring student midwives and other nursing categories . |
| (4) | A midwife may not: |
| (a) | up a private practice without registration as a midwife specialist; and |
| (b) | act as an assistant surgeon to a medical practitioner. |