An Bord Altranais is the regulatory body for midwives. There are 22 maternity units in the State.

There are 13,037 midwives registered with the An Bord Altranais but only one-10th of these are practising.

Irish Nurses Organisation is the main union for midwives, but SIPTU and IMPACT also have midwife members.

Students on the midwife registration education programme earn £17,894. The full salary scale for midwives is available on the INO website at www.ino.ie