Certified Nurse Midwife vs. Women's Health NP?

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Jul 11, 2009

I'm a student and I'm really enjoying my clinical in Women's Health/OB! Awesome specialty!
Could someone please explain the difference between a Certified Nurse Midwife and a Women's Health NP? Does a CNM only do OB, does WHNP focus more on gyn? Who can deliver babies?
thanks!

You do not have to choose between the two. I want to go to UCSF, when you graduate with your CNM you are also a C\WHNP. So you deliver babies and do all the office stuff of the C\WHNP like paps, counseling, IUD insertion, STD testing, pre-natals, working with post-menopausal women, ect.

CEG · Jul 11, 2009

Basically a CNM and a WHNP do the same thing except the CNM also does deliveries. Both do well-woman, prenatal, problem gyne, midlife, menopause, etc. The benefit to having both is that sometimes a job wants one or another. Obviously if someone will be doing deliveries a CNM is needed. In some cases if there is a job with no deliveries a WHNP is desired because of malpractice insurance issues (can be more $$$$ to insure a CNM even if no deliveries). Also, sometimes CNMs a more politically unfavorable than WHNP because often it is very hard for a CNM to be the first to get in somewhere. So it can be beneficial to have both, but if you are only picking one of them, CNM has a wider scope of practice, while it could potentially limit your job prospects one day.

Jennelea · May 19, 2010

Does anyone know anything about becoming a CNM AFTER becoming a WHNP?

I am hoping to begin a program to get my MSN with a WHNP specialty, but I want to know what my options are to become a midwife after this program.

How much more school would be required to become a CNM also? The material must overlap significantly, right? Does anyone have any experience with taking this path?

klone, MSN, RN · May 19, 2010

Does anyone know anything about becoming a CNM AFTER becoming a WHNP?
I am hoping to begin a program to get my MSN with a WHNP specialty, but I want to know what my options are to become a midwife after this program.
How much more school would be required to become a CNM also? The material must overlap significantly, right? Does anyone have any experience with taking this path?

You can get a post-Master's certificate in midwifery, which might be another year or two of schooling. Yes, there is a lot of overlap in the coursework. However, unless you get the certificate from the same school, you may be required to repeat a lot of the coursework.

redbeads · May 26, 2010

Does anyone know anything about becoming a CNM AFTER becoming a WHNP?
I am hoping to begin a program to get my MSN with a WHNP specialty, but I want to know what my options are to become a midwife after this program.
How much more school would be required to become a CNM also? The material must overlap significantly, right? Does anyone have any experience with taking this path?

It actually would be alot easier to do this the other way around. That is, become a CNM, then get certified as a WHNP after that. Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing has this program. After finishing the CNM path, you would just need to complete some more clinicals, and take the certification exam to get your WHNP. From a previous poster, it sounds like UCSF has something similar.