How do I become a Midwife or Doula?

serenity1 · Aug 2, 2012

To become a Certified Nurse Midwife you need to have a Bachelor's degree in Nursing and then apply to an advanced program in Nurse Midwifery. Google doula training in your area. You do not need a degree for that. Good luck!

iebybrittany · Aug 2, 2012

I have look at that it say to get a bsn u need to be an rn i have found places online that say u need a cna to become an lpn and then u can become an rn so what do i need to go to school to get first? So confused

serenity1 · Aug 2, 2012

You can obtain your RN by either getting an Associate's degree or Bachelor's degree. It also depends on the programs you are looking into. There are programs where you earn your LPN and bridge to RN. Either way, you will need a Bachelor's degree to get into school for Nurse Midwifery. Check into the programs you are interested in attending and find out their requirements. You can try the local community colleges or the universities in your area for information on earning your RN. Frontier School of Nursing and Vanderbilt are two popular choices for Nurse Midwifery. You can find a lot of information on their websites.

iebybrittany · Aug 2, 2012

Thank You So Much!!!! Ill check into it :)

TheresaMarie · Aug 15, 2012

as for doula education, there are a few great ones out there...DONE, CAPPA are the most recognized, but I prefer Birth Arts International, New Beginnings, or ToLabour, :)

RubySlippers06 · Aug 17, 2012

Check out this website: DONA International – Birth Doula Certification

There is some great information on it! Good luck to you!! Also, I believe that the requirements are different for doula training in every state. As for becoming a midwife, to my knowledge you will need to first obtain your BSN and get some experience as an RN. The go to a graduate program for MSN with a specialty in midwifery.

PNCC2001 · Aug 23, 2012

You can be a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) if they are Licensed in your state; without being a nurse. Go to the NARM website for the requirements. To be a Birth Doula, there are different requirements based on the organization that you choose to train with; and each organization has somewhat different philosophies about the Scope of Practice of a Birth Doula. Some organizations have more of a natural focus than others. You need to decide what best meets your needs in choosing your educational path. If you decide to be a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) you do not need to start as a CNA, LPN, etc. You can apply directly to BSN programs and later to an MSN midwifery program.

Astroidinary · Feb 7, 2015

Even though you asked this about 3 years ago as a future kid who plans to major in Nursing,I feel the need to share what I learned through tons of research and post I've made in the last 3 days! Steps to becoming a MidWife are pretty much determined based on the area your in. First I'd get a associates degree this can either be a AS or an AA both work as far as I'm concerned there basically 2 year programs and u can start working to be a RN right after that...Then you'll need to go to a local college that offers bachelor degrees should be another 2 years when your done with that admission into a Nurse Mid-Wife program when done you should be a new Nurse Mid-Wife.:)

klone, MSN, RN · Feb 7, 2015

I would not get an associate's degree. I would go right for a BSN program. More and more hospitals are requiring (or "strongly preferring") BSN prepared nurses, and associate's degree nurses are having more difficulty finding employment, especially in a plum department such as L&D.

Also, there are very few AA programs in nursing. The vast majority are AS or AAS.

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Feb 9, 2015

You can be a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) if they are Licensed in your state; without being a nurse. Go to the NARM website for the requirements. To be a Birth Doula, there are different requirements based on the organization that you choose to train with; and each organization has somewhat different philosophies about the Scope of Practice of a Birth Doula. Some organizations have more of a natural focus than others. You need to decide what best meets your needs in choosing your educational path. If you decide to be a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) you do not need to start as a CNA, LPN, etc. You can apply directly to BSN programs and later to an MSN midwifery program.

I want to caution anyone considering the CPM route to remember that the legality of direct-entry midwifery varies state to state, and in almost all cases, none of your CPM coursework will transfer if you decide to go back for your RN/CNM.

I am a CPM, and I greatly value the home birth education I had. It has helped me maintain my balance while completing my CNM training in a large tertiary hospital. However, when I decided to go back to school for my RN, I had to start from scratch. Not a single credit transferred from my CPM school. It was also a rude awakening when I first started CNM school, to realize how much I DID NOT KNOW. Yikes.

When I worked as a CPM in Florida, I was licensed and I took medicaid and insurance. Up here in MA, direct entry midwifery is unregulated, which means that anyone can hang a shingle and decide they want to catch babies. It also means that your services aren't covered by insurance/medicaid, and you are therefore left serving only women who can afford to pay out of pocket for a home birth. While these women are certainly deserving of good midwifery care, it is important to me that I can reach women who don't have an extra couple thousand kicking around for a home birth.

It is a simple process to bridge from CNM to CPM. The reverse? Not so much, and it shouldn't be, with the current state of CPM education in this country.

eta- just want to make it clear that most CPMs are knowledgeable, expert midwives. But not all of them. The NARM credentialing process, along with the weird state-to-state variances in legality, makes it very difficult to ensure a minimum level of competence for the direct-entry midwifery profession.