Are Certified Midwifes still Prevelent in the U.S?

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I’m currently nowhere near graduating from even my bsn. I’m only completing my pre reqs. But am thinking of my future. I’m 22 years old and would love to be a nurse midwife after gaining my bsn and having experience as a nurse.

I watched a video on YouTube.

Though many in the comments say that the video is inaccurate in terms of data. Are midwives still needed in the U.S, are they really on a decrease, and should I consider a different field. I’m interested in women’s health, and feel like this field may be right for me. I’ll have to see in the future as a nurse to be sure, and gain experience before applying. But I want to know if the field is any decrease in terms of staff or salary. And if the speacialty is in a bad state; should I go the FnP route?

I live in Kentucky, but want to travel a lot as a nurse. Especially as a midwife in the future. I hope I’m making sense. Any advice or help would be great. Thanks.

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I am in the same position as you. I have this raging burn of passion for helping mothers and babies and saw Midwifery as my way to do it. I am currently in the second semester of my ADN program and hold a BS in another major. I had thought of going from RN, ADN to CNM as a bridge but have been rethinking the idea. I have been trying to network with a midwife at my local hospital with no such luck. I would like to connect with someone who is a current midwife. Well, I am going to follow this thread in the hope of getting some answers!

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Well, hello. I am a certified nurse-midwife who loves talking about midwifery. I'm pretty active in midwifery organizations and will try to direct you to resources and answer questions. I'm sorry the midwife at your local hospital wasn't open to networking (?). Going from RN, ADN to CNM (or getting BSN along the way first, depending on which school you go to) is certainly doable.

http://www.midwife.org/

http://www.midwife.org/Education-and-Careers

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5 hours ago, Allison T said:

Well, hello. I am a certified nurse-midwife who loves talking about midwifery. I'm pretty active in midwifery organizations and will try to direct you to resources and answer questions. I'm sorry the midwife at your local hospital wasn't open to networking (?). Going from RN, ADN to CNM (or getting BSN along the way first, depending on which school you go to) is certainly doable.

http://www.midwife.org/

http://www.midwife.org/Education-and-Careers

Allison, do you think you should really have experience as a nurse in labor and delivery before entering a CNM program, or do you think it's doable with no experience? I have been a nurse for 3 years but my experience is in hospice. I currently have an MSN in leadership and management so I'm hoping to get a post-masters certificate in a midwifery program

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Specializes in Nurse-Midwife.

ChiefFaith

The questions you ask will have different answers depending upon the state and the area where you work. Some places have lots of CNM practices. Others have very few. The way practices are structured vary from practice to practice - and also depending on the size/volume of the clinic/hospital where you work. Getting experience as a nurse will help you feel out different APRN professions, and help you decide where you want to land in your nursing career.

On 1/30/2019 at 2:51 AM, Awisehart said:

Allison, do you think you should really have experience as a nurse in labor and delivery before entering a CNM program, or do you think it's doable with no experience?

I'm not Allison, but I'm a CNM. I used to think that gaining experience as an RN was completely unnecessary - but that was until I got a job as an RN in a very busy tertiary L&D unit. I can say that my RN experience was hands-down the most important part of my training as a midwife. Especially the experience in the high-volume, high risk center. I would not have even close to the experience and knowledge that I have with my midwifery training alone.

There are plenty of people who will minimize the necessity of RN experience in L&D. BUt it's worth it. Even if the job isn't midwife-y (and the place I was wasn't! At All!) The skills and intuition and knowledge and experience you will gain will be vital to you being ready to practice when you start as a CNM on your own.

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As a nurse who was privileged to have a home birth with a great midwife, at the same time I was working part-time in L&D recovery, I can only say that the value that midwives offer is .. priceless! Follow your hearts on this. I know a midwife who was an engineer before she studied midwifery. The culture needs more midwives. We can all be talking about that as an option, raising the consciousness of the public that midwives offer safe births, and a different approach to birth.

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Hi, thank you all for the info on this thread. My question is a little bit different but still pertains to the overall topic. I’m an RN who entered nursing school with the intention of becoming a midwife. I have worked at a birth center and with home birth midwives as a birth assistant and am working on getting a job as an LD nurse. I am curious if there are any opportunities for me to explore in this role as an aspiring midwife outside of what I am doing professionally. I had the chance to travel to Mexico with an organization called Mujeres Aliadas where I partook in a cultural exchange program learning from indigenous midwives and activists seeking to preserve midwifery in Mexico. I would like to engage with midwifery as much as I possibly can now before I enter midwifery school (I am not ready to begin because of practical reasons like needing to be more financially stable).

So I guess my question is do any experienced midwives here have insight into organizations or opportunities that may be relevant to someone like me, who is in between nursing and midwifery but has some experience working with pregnant woman and new families? When I try to use the internet search, I’m mostly directed towards how to become a CNM, which I definitely want to do, but I’m thinking more along the lines of volunteering, professional organizations, conferences, etc.

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Specializes in OB.
On 7/28/2019 at 10:38 AM, seraphimid said:

Hi, thank you all for the info on this thread. My question is a little bit different but still pertains to the overall topic. I’m an RN who entered nursing school with the intention of becoming a midwife. I have worked at a birth center and with home birth midwives as a birth assistant and am working on getting a job as an LD nurse. I am curious if there are any opportunities for me to explore in this role as an aspiring midwife outside of what I am doing professionally. I had the chance to travel to Mexico with an organization called Mujeres Aliadas where I partook in a cultural exchange program learning from indigenous midwives and activists seeking to preserve midwifery in Mexico. I would like to engage with midwifery as much as I possibly can now before I enter midwifery school (I am not ready to begin because of practical reasons like needing to be more financially stable).

So I guess my question is do any experienced midwives here have insight into organizations or opportunities that may be relevant to someone like me, who is in between nursing and midwifery but has some experience working with pregnant woman and new families? When I try to use the internet search, I’m mostly directed towards how to become a CNM, which I definitely want to do, but I’m thinking more along the lines of volunteering, professional organizations, conferences, etc.

There's a birth center in South Texas called Holy Family that offers fellowships for new grad midwives and volunteer opportunities:

https://www.holyfamilybirthcenter.com

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I'm sorry I didn't see these replies months ago. I love the discussion. I do want to say that however much CNMs with L & D experience who work in busy, medicalized practices may feel that their L & D experience was helpful (and I am one of those who felt it was helpful), the research does not support that it is necessary. The parallel credential to CNMs, i.e., CMs, does not have L & D experience because they do not enter midwifery from nursing. Yet they go through the same midwifery education as CNMs, take the same board exam (AMCB), and belong to the same professional association (ACNM).

There is no statistical difference in outcomes between CNMs with L & D experience and CNMs without it.

I know people who've worked at and volunteered at Holy Family Birth Center and loved it. https://www.holyfamilybirthcenter.com/

There is an organization for those affiliated with or interested in birth centers (for birth center midwives, birth center owners, doulas, etc.) called AABC (American Association of Birth Centers). www.birthcenters.org.

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Thank you so much! Unfortunately I am based in New York where the is only one birth center near me and RNs do not work there. I will check out holy family birth, however it is definitely far from where I am.

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