RN to Midwife

Specialties CNM

Published

Hi there,

I'm a newly graduated RN (baby nurse as i'm often called at the hospital that i work at), who has a passion for all things having to do with birth. I'm currently working on a med-surg floor that has a focus on respiratory illnesses (a lot of CF patients). I'm hoping to start working at one of the best women's hospitals in the country in a few months and would like some tips on how to eventually move into a career in midwifery. In Canada, you don't need to be a registered nurse in order to be a midwife. In fact, the university I graduated from has a Bachelor's in Midwifery program. I don't want to get a second Bachelor's degree, however.

So, any tips on how long I should work in Labour and Delivery before going back to school to become a midwife?

Thank you

=)

Specializes in Cardiac.

Just to get this thread going again,I'll post my questions here too!

I'm a little confused on some things.For some schools no L&D experience is needed? I graduated in may 09 and working in cardiac as no L&D jobs were available to me as a new grad. I've recently found Frontier's website extremely encouraging,especially the bridge program. Does anyone know if there is a time limit between completing the bridge program and starting the MSN? I was wondering if I could apply to the bridge program,hopefully obtain a position on L&D,gain some experience there and then start the MSN-CNM?

Any Frontier bridge stundents out there? I would love to ask more questions! Thanks.

i didn't realize there was a 3 yr gap from when this was originally posted! :) how funny.

i'm in a similar situation. I'm an RN, BSN with 5 years of experience (med/surg, tele, little ambulatory surgery) who wanted to go into L&D to see if midwivery was an option. I started working at a big hospital in NYC that was a complete baby factory, so busy. almost every mama got pitocin whether she needed it or not. natural/unmedicated birthing was not really encouraged since it was mandatory to have an IV and constant fetal monitoring in bed. For many reasons, mostly personal, i had to leave 8 weeks into orientation.

So, I still have a dream of being a midwife but after that experience i'm not sure I want to work in a hospital's L&D unit. What's another way to work in the field? ob/gyn office? where I will be living in the next few months (Austin) has only 1 birthing center and they hire students but not RNs. I would love to enter Frontier in the next year or 2.

Any advice/suggestions is greatly appreciated!!

Specializes in L&D/postpartum.

Blueindigo-I wouldn't give up on L&D just yet. L&D in the NYC area (and perhaps other major metro areas) is a totally different ballgame than other parts of the country. I just moved back here after working L&D in a rural part of PA where we did mostly midwife deliveries, intermittent monitoring, no elective inductions or sections, few epidurals, etc. Where I work now is the complete opposite and makes me totally ill most of the time. L&D units in Austin might be happier places, so if you do a little research you could be pleasantly surprised and hopefully get more of the experience that you want.

Specializes in Cardiac.

Seeing some things on this thread about L&D units like the one you mentioned scare me too! But I would really like to get into it to see if I could really be a midwife. Then again I've wanted to do L&d since before I entered nursing school so I don't see why I wouldn't like it!

Blueindigo-I wouldn't give up on L&D just yet. L&D in the NYC area (and perhaps other major metro areas) is a totally different ballgame than other parts of the country. I just moved back here after working L&D in a rural part of PA where we did mostly midwife deliveries, intermittent monitoring, no elective inductions or sections, few epidurals, etc. Where I work now is the complete opposite and makes me totally ill most of the time. L&D units in Austin might be happier places, so if you do a little research you could be pleasantly surprised and hopefully get more of the experience that you want.

You said you worked in rural PA. . .Is there any progress toward legalizing homebirth at this point?

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