[cc_nurse]

I have always been interested in midwifery, it was my initial end goal when I entered nursing school, but have found my self working in a level III NICU for the past 2 yrs. I love my job but there is still that part of my that is interested in the CNM route, my first question(s) is whether any of you have worked in a NICU (any level) and seen their share of negative outcomes, did this affect your feelings about midwifery? I wonder if I would always have those thoughts in the back of my mind, would it interfere with my ability to work with my moms?

My second question is one of locale; I currently live in Pa but am planning a move to the Ft. Wayne area of Indiana within the next 6 months to a year and wondered what the climate for midwifery is in that region. The hospital/area I work in is not very midwife friendly...is it any better in the mid-west?

[mom2michael]

Check out the ACNM website for jobs - that is a really great place to start and it will help you get an idea of where CNM's are hired across the country. This site isn't all inclusive though, there are other sites but it's a great place to see what's out there and what is available.

http://www.midwife.org/

As far as the first question - I'm not really sure what you are asking and/or saying here and I would need more clarification in order to answer that one.

I hope the website helps and good luck in your endeavors!!

[Libekh]

I used to be a NICU nurse, and looking back I can't believe some of the stuff I saw on a daily basis. What has attracted me to CNM is that it supports birth as a normal process, when the abnormal happens and when things get truly high risk it is handled by the OB's- Also you have to remember that right now your vision is clouded by the fact that you work in the NICU, I remember thinking that if I ever had children they were bound to be premature with genetic anomalies and or delivery injuries and or etc. etc. because I began to believe that this happened to all babies since all of the babies I saw on a daily basis had these things wrong.

[mommy2boysaz]

I don't think being a NICU nurse would hurt your ability to be a good CNM, but if I were you, I would try to find a midwife that you could shadow for a while, to see if you are comfortable with the midwifery model of care. It can be very different from the "medical" model.
I live and work near Ft. Wayne, and I know there are a couple of midwives in Ft. Wayne. Not sure how busy they are, or what type of births they generally do. The nearest birth center is in Goshen, IN, which is a couple of hours from Ft. Wayne.
There are also two midwives in Auburn, IN, about 20 minutes from Ft. Wayne. They have a busy practice.
So, midwifery is not unheard of in the area, but there probably aren't going to be a large number of opportunities, either.
Good Luck!!

[littlemamakt]

http://qualityoflife.org/employment/
http://sjmed.jobscience.com/

There are openings listed for CNMs at both Memorial and St. Joe in the South Bend area. There is a birthing center in Mishawaka, and the one mentioned in Goshen. I heard a rumor that one is opening in South Bend too.

Kate