An endorsed midwife is a registered midwife who holds a further qualification for scheduled medicines. It lets her prescribe certain medicines, order tests and refer you on to other health professionals, and it is also what makes Medicare rebates possible for her care. You will see the word on every EverNurture midwife’s profile and on plenty of others besides, where it is easy to read past as marketing language in the same category as “caring” or “experienced”. It is not. Endorsement is recorded against her registration, and it changes two concrete things: what she may do for you, and what her care costs you.
Key Takeaways
- Endorsement is recorded against a midwife’s registration, so it is a fact you can verify rather than a claim.
- It means she has more than advice available to her when something comes up mid-visit.
- It is the difference between a rebate and no rebate at all on the same visit.
- The AHPRA register is public, so you can confirm it yourself.
- It says nothing about what she offers or how she works. That still comes down to asking her.
What an endorsed midwife is
Every practising midwife in Australia is registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. An endorsed midwife has gone further and completed an endorsement for scheduled medicines (opens in a new tab), a postgraduate qualification recorded against her registration.
According to Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (opens in a new tab), that qualification means she can:
- Prescribe certain medicines, within the scope her registration allows and the law in her state.
- Order tests, rather than sending you elsewhere to have them requested.
- Refer you on to other professionals, such as an obstetrician or paediatrician.
Put plainly, it is the difference between a midwife who can tell you something looks worth investigating and one who can start the investigation.
What it takes to get endorsed
It is not a weekend course. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia sets the bar, and a midwife has to clear all of it before the endorsement is recorded against her name.
- Current general registration as a midwife in Australia, with no conditions relating to professional performance or conduct.
- The equivalent of three years’ full-time clinical practice, which the Board counts as 5,000 hours, within the past six years. Observation does not count towards it.
- An approved program of study leading to endorsement, or one the Board accepts as substantially equivalent.
The Board also records the context a midwife practises in: antenatal, postnatal, or both. So two endorsed midwives can hold the same endorsement and work at different ends of the same journey, which is another reason to ask what a particular midwife actually offers.
Taken together it means an endorsed midwife has thousands of hours of hands-on practice behind the qualification, not just the qualification.
Why it matters for what you pay
Endorsement is also the gateway to Medicare. For eligible families, seeing an endorsed midwife means Medicare benefits apply to postnatal care within a limited window after the birth, which is what keeps the out-of-pocket cost of a home visit low.
Practices differ in what they charge and in how they handle the claim, so put both to the midwife you contact. The rebates and fees page sets out how it works.
Without endorsement, a private midwife’s care is simply a private fee. That is the practical difference the word carries, and it is usually a large one.
How to check it for yourself
You do not have to take anyone’s word for it. The national AHPRA register is public, free and searchable, and it lists both a midwife’s registration and anything endorsed on it.
It takes about a minute, and it is a perfectly ordinary thing to do. No midwife will be offended that you looked, and any who would is telling you something useful.
All four midwives are endorsed. Their introductions set out each one’s background and link to her own website.
What it does not mean
Endorsement is a qualification, not a description of the care on offer. Two endorsed midwives can work very differently: one may focus on postnatal home visits, another may run antenatal education as well. What each midwife offers, the areas she covers and her availability are hers to set, and her own website is where that detail lives.
It also does not replace your other care. A midwife with endorsement refers on when you need someone else, and works alongside your GP, obstetrician or hospital rather than instead of them.
What this means for the EverNurture collective
Suzie, Rebecca, Nohelia (Natalie) and Elisa are each an endorsed midwife, and each runs her own independent practice. That shared qualification is part of why the collective exists: whichever midwife you choose, the endorsement and the Medicare pathway are the same, and the differences between them sit in fees, areas and availability rather than in what they are qualified to do.
Short introductions to all four are on About EverNurture, and How it works explains how the collective fits together.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “scheduled medicines” mean?
Medicines in Australia are sorted into schedules according to how they are supplied and who may prescribe them. A midwife’s endorsement covers particular schedules, and what she may prescribe from them is set by the law in her state or territory. In practice it covers medicines that come up in midwifery care rather than a general prescribing right.
Does an endorsed midwife replace my GP or obstetrician?
No. She works alongside your other care rather than instead of it, and part of the job is recognising when something belongs with someone else. Your appointments through your GP, hospital or obstetrician carry on exactly as they were.
Do I need a referral to see an endorsed midwife?
No. You engage a private midwife directly and no referral is needed. A collaborative arrangement with a doctor used to be a condition of Medicare benefits for midwifery services, but that requirement was removed from 1 December 2024.
Does being endorsed mean she can attend my birth?
Not on its own. Each midwife decides what she offers, and the EverNurture midwives do not provide labour and birth care, so your birth stays with your hospital or birth service.
Conclusion
Endorsement is one of the few words on a midwifery website that means something precise, and one of the few you can check in a minute without asking anyone.
What it cannot tell you is whether she suits your family, how she works, or whether you would be comfortable ringing her. Those answers only come from a conversation, so treat the endorsement as the floor rather than the decision. Our guide to choosing a midwife covers what to ask.
Each midwife can tell you what she charges, whether a rebate applies to you and how her endorsement affects your care. No form in between.