Anyone a CNM and a CPM?

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

I am currently in nursing school with the long term goal of obtaining my CNM. I received my CPM and LM in 2006 but unfortunately had to stop working as a midwife because my daughter was diagnosed with a very serious disorder (ataxia telangiectasia) that essentially ripped my family apart. Anyway, I just could not go back to the constant, never ending on call hours that home birth/ birth center midwifery requires. So I decided to go back to school for my CNM. Right now my CPM license is inactive. I do want to maintain this license just in case I want to go back to independant midwifery one day, but I am worried about the legalities of maintaining a CNM and a CPM. I am guessing I would be held to the CNM license and I would not be able to use my CPM at the same time?

My hope is to get a nice hospital based CNM job with nicely defined on call hours (unlike the constant call I was on as a CPM!), and maybe take on a home birth or BC job when my kids are older. I like my CPM because it allows me to practice (in certain states and in certain situations) without a physician signing my protocols. But I probably won't use it again for another 15 years or so! I worked SO hard for it, I would hate to just let it go. I just worry that when I am someday ready to go back to homebirth, I won't be able to find a doctor to back me up and I will be SOL.

[arabianeyez83]

Sorry, u didn't get an answer from anyone...I just had a patient with ataxia telangiectasia this week...it was the first time I ever heard about it....Can't you just reactivate your CPM license whenever u want?

[kythe, LPN]

I'm guessing the lack of responses is due to lack of experience with this issue. Over the years, I've met two CNMs who had started as CPMs, but they both changed the focus of their careers for different reasons than you are considering. For instance, one attended home births as a CPM for about 25 years before burning out. She went back to school for CNM so she could expand her scope of practice and she basically worked as a gynecologist doing well woman care. I never asked if she kept her CPM active, I hadn't given it much thought.

I would guess that it could be a conflict of interest to keep a CPM active with a CNM license. It could also be that your higher degree will trump the lower one. However, the two degrees are regulated by different governing bodies and are completely independent from each other. You could always contact your state health dept (at least in my state, that is who licenses DEMs) and also contact your state board of nursing, and see what they each say.

[AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP]

Right now my CPM license is inactive. I do want to maintain this license just in case I want to go back to independant midwifery one day, but I am worried about the legalities of maintaining a CNM and a CPM. I am guessing I would be held to the CNM license and I would not be able to use my CPM at the same time?

The CPM isn't a license, it's a credential. There are many CNMs who are also CPMs and it's more of a "solidarity" thing than anything else. If you're a LM in your state, that's what you'd give up when you got the CNM because it trumps the LM with a broader, advanced scope of practice.

Look into how long you can keep the CPM credential inactive because there is a six year cap where you will either have to go active again or lose it. Mine is up for renewal next February. I haven't done anything to maintain it because I've been in nursing school full-time. I think I will go inactive and see where I go in the next two years following graduation. Not sure if I'm staying in midwifery.