What is this job like on a day to day basis?

Specialties CNM

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I am super interested in women's health and development and planning to go to nursing school in a post bacc program. I plan to eventually go into advanced practice, and I've thought heavily about becoming a CNM. The thing is, I am unsure what this job would be like everyday. I expect crazy hours. What turned me off from being a CNM was an episode of A Baby Story on TLC in which the mother gave birth with a nurse midwife. They were all alone, one on one, in a dimly lit room and all this. I felt like, for me, that would be a forced intimacy. I would love to work at a birth center in which I can give women the experience they want, but with a support staff (including an OB) around. Please let me know what sort of working opportunities are available for CNMs...I would appreciate it bunches.

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Specializes in OB.

I work with a couple of CNMs and they basically do everything an OB/GYN does (other than high-risk), they just spend more time getting to know their patients and the patient's family. They will come in at the start of labor if the patient desires, to help coach them through. (Find an OB who will do that!:wink2:)

I wouldn't put much stock into something you saw on Baby Story. That show is not very realistic IMHO!

It's really more about helping the woman have the birth that SHE desires. If that's an epidural, OK. If that's a tub birth, OK. It's about giving women choices and empowering them to make their own decisions about their births.

And that's why I just applied to CNM school!!:)

Good Luck with your decision! Meet some CNMs and watch them for a while!

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I guess I don't really put a lot of stock into TV for anything; but I just felt like the one on one intimacy of that birth I saw on Baby Story was really...it just seemed forced, as I said. I really want support staff, you know?

Right now I'm soo torn between nursing and vet med. I love the idea of working with children, mothers, pediatric populations...but I've worked at a veterinary hospital for two years and I love my critters, too! Its such a hard decision. I love the idea of both, but I've only had experience with animals.

I dunno!

I work with a couple of CNMs and they basically do everything an OB/GYN does (other than high-risk), they just spend more time getting to know their patients and the patient's family. They will come in at the start of labor if the patient desires, to help coach them through. (Find an OB who will do that!:wink2:)

I wouldn't put much stock into something you saw on Baby Story. That show is not very realistic IMHO!

It's really more about helping the woman have the birth that SHE desires. If that's an epidural, OK. If that's a tub birth, OK. It's about giving women choices and empowering them to make their own decisions about their births.

And that's why I just applied to CNM school!!:)

Good Luck with your decision! Meet some CNMs and watch them for a while!

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I think you can find as many types of midwifery jobs as there are midwives, to be honest. There are plenty of CNMs who do not labor-sit. Some are too busy, some don't like to. But in my experience, it is rarely you and the mother in the room alone for extended periods of time. There are usually other people around - family, friends, the nursing staff. etc. If you want an OB around all the time in case something goes bad, there are midwives who work in teaching hospitals where there are residents around all the time. My backup OBs are not in the hospital the entire time I have someone in labor, but can get there pretty quick if I need them.

Keep in mind that the "forced intimacy" might seem more natural with someone that you have been caring for and developing a relationship with over an entire pregnancy. But the editing could make it seem like she had been there the entire labor, where she might have only been there for a shorter amount of time. I personally have a hard time watching those shows.

If you are unsure if you want to be a CNM, I highly suggest some experience with pregnant/birthing women, either as a nurse, a doula, a childbirth educator, something.

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Specializes in L&D, Mother/Baby.

Speaking as a doula, nursing student, and possible CNM, the practice is what you make it. I'm not sure if the episode you saw was in a hospital, birth center, or home, but many CNMs choose where they deliver--working at a birth center, hospitals only, etc. As far as the one on one, and dim, intimate setting: as a doula, I have learned that the birth is not just about a new baby. It's about giving the mother a positive birth experience--something that can have major effects on how she mothers, how she feels about herself, and how she feels about the healthcare delivery system. So, if having the lights low helps mom to relax and get through labor, that's what she gets! While unlikely, the same is true if she only feels comfortable having just her CNM in the delivery room.

I second the suggestion to get experience in the field before deciding between your two fields. Nursing school is a big endeavor and requires serious commitment, something you don't want to turn out being a big waste of time (and money).

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