Midwife Revalidation (NMC): Requirements for Midwives

Midwife revalidation with the NMC happens every three years, and the requirements are the same ones that apply to every nurse, midwife and nursing associate on the register. As a midwife you need 450 practice hours as a midwife, 35 hours of CPD (at least 20 of them participatory), five pieces of practice-related feedback, five written reflective accounts, a reflective discussion, a confirmation discussion, and health and character and indemnity declarations. What is specific to midwives is mainly how practice hours work if you are dual-registered, a specialist community public health nurse (SCPHN) or on leave.

The NMC regulates midwives across the UK. This guide reflects the NMC's revalidation guidance as published on its website in October 2026. Most of those pages were last updated in 2021, and the main booklet is the May 2019 edition. In July 2026 the NMC announced a consultation on a new Code and on revalidation changes, planned for September to December 2026. Those are proposals, and the current requirements below still apply.

Midwife revalidation at a glance

Practice hours for midwives

According to the NMC, midwives need 450 hours of practice over the three-year period, and a midwife who is also a SCPHN still needs 450 hours. Hours should reflect your current scope of practice, so they do not have to match what you did when you first joined the register. Hours count when you rely on your skills, knowledge and experience as a registered midwife. The NMC says that includes direct care but also managing teams, teaching others and helping to shape or run a service.

The NMC booklet says hours worked in a support role, such as a healthcare assistant or support worker, do not count, and neither do hours in another regulated profession. Overseas practice counts if you were registered and practising as a midwife.

If you are registered as both a midwife and a nurse

Each registration needs its own hours, and you cannot double-count them. The NMC says a midwife who is also a registered nurse needs 900 hours every three years, of which 450 must be as a nurse and 450 as a midwife. The NMC guidance gives an example: a dual registrant who works only as a general practice nurse cannot use midwifery tasks, such as record-keeping, to maintain midwifery registration. A midwife who regularly uses nursing skills in their role can renew both registrations if they can show they rely on both sets of knowledge and skills.

Other requirements do not double. Dual registrants still need five pieces of feedback and five reflective accounts in total, and may split the accounts, for example three on midwifery and two on nursing.

If you work as a SCPHN

The NMC says SCPHNs must maintain registration as a nurse or a midwife and cannot renew as a SCPHN only. A midwife who works wholly in a SCPHN role can use that practice to meet the practice hours requirement. A dual-registered midwife and nurse working solely as a SCPHN who relies on only one registration may lapse the other, provided they keep the one they use. They can seek readmission to the other part later.

If you have not done enough hours

If you have not practised the required hours, the NMC says you must complete an approved return to practice programme or a Test of Competence before you can renew. Our guide to NMC practice hours and how to record them covers the log the NMC recommends.

CPD: 35 hours, 20 participatory

The NMC does not prescribe the type of CPD. It must be relevant to your scope of practice, and the NMC booklet says mandatory training that is unrelated to your practice does not count. Participatory learning is any activity involving interaction with one or more other professionals, in person or virtually, and group meetings outside everyday practice, such as one held to discuss a specific event or a new way of working, can count.

For each activity, record the method, the topic and how it related to your practice, the dates, the hours (including participatory hours), the part of the Code most relevant, and evidence that you did it. For ideas on what qualifies, see our examples of NMC participatory learning.

An NMC case study of a midwife in a continuity-of-care team shows how varied this can be. She attended online conferences and wrote summaries, read a midwifery journal, represented her unit on a local Maternity Voices Partnership, and used her line manager to discuss future development areas. These are her examples, not NMC requirements.

Feedback, reflective accounts and discussion

Your five pieces of feedback can come from patients and service users, colleagues, management, team performance reports or your annual appraisal. Keep a note of the content and how you used it. In the same case study, the midwife used evaluations from student midwives, thank-you cards from families and a colleague's thank-you email.

Each of your five written reflective accounts must refer to CPD, a piece of feedback, or an event or experience in your own practice, and explain how it relates to the Code. The NMC stresses that you must not record information that could identify another person. This matters in midwifery, where births and care episodes are easy to identify from small details, so leave out names, dates of incidents and specific places. Our reflective accounts examples and template shows how to write them without identifying anyone.

You then discuss the accounts with another NMC registrant, meaning a nurse, midwife or nursing associate. They do not need to be a midwife. The NMC says the discussion should take place face to face, and your partner signs the NMC reflective discussion form.

Confirmation

Your confirmer should, where possible, be your line manager, who does not have to be NMC-registered. The NMC says confirmation takes place in the final year of the three-year period. If you have no line manager, the NMC recommends an NMC-registered nurse, midwife or nursing associate. Family members and close friends cannot act as your confirmer. If your confirmer is not an NMC registrant, your reflective discussion must happen first.

Dates, extensions and what if you are on leave

The NMC says your application is due on the first day of the month in which your registration expires, and it emails a reminder 60 days before the deadline. Your dates are in MyNMC. You do not upload evidence with your application, and the NMC cannot process it until the fee is received.

The NMC says it can help if you have circumstances such as disability, illness, pregnancy or maternity, including by providing a short extension to your application date. You can apply for an extension through MyNMC. If you are going on maternity leave, the NMC case study midwife's advice is to keep a careful record of your hours when you return. The NMC has proposed longer automatic extensions of 12 weeks for valid reasons, but this is a proposal in the consultation, not a current rule.

If you miss the deadline, your registration lapses and you cannot practise as a midwife until you are readmitted. The NMC says readmission can take up to six weeks.

Frequently asked questions

How many practice hours does a midwife need for revalidation?

450 hours over three years, according to the NMC. A midwife who is also a registered nurse needs 900 hours, with 450 as a midwife and 450 as a nurse.

Can my confirmer be a non-midwife?

Yes. The NMC prefers your line manager, who does not need to be a nurse or midwife. If your confirmer is not NMC-registered, you must have your reflective discussion with an NMC registrant first.

Do I send my evidence to the NMC?

No, but keep it. Each year the NMC selects a sample of applications for verification. You are told within 24 hours of submitting, and you then have 21 days to provide further information.

Do student midwife supervision and assessment hours count?

The NMC practice hours page counts hours where you rely on your skills as a registered professional, including teaching others, but it does not give midwife-specific examples. Keep a record and describe your role clearly in your log.

Next steps

Check your revalidation date in MyNMC, then work backwards: log hours as you go, collect feedback through the year and book your reflective discussion and confirmation in good time. More professional learning guidance is on our CPD hub.

This article is general information, not regulatory, legal or compliance advice. Check the current requirements on the NMC website and in your MyNMC account.