How To Become A Labor and Delivery Nurse?

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 11, 2011

You need to go to nursing school. There are no specific courses you take to be an OB nurse. All nurses take the same courses in nursing school, and then after you graduate, you apply for jobs in the area of nursing you want to get into.

Good luck!

WannaBeLDNurse · Jan 11, 2011

Thank very much. In your opinion you recommend a two nurse program or a four year program?

tablefor9, RN · Jan 11, 2011

Look for posts re: ADN-BSN...there are several on the boards.

Good luck to you!

QTBabyNurse, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2011

hi and congratulations on your decision to be a nurse! :yeah: you will need to become a registered nurse to work in obstetrics. the ob department (short for obstetrics) is comprised of three different areas: labor & delivery, newborn nursery and mother/baby couplets (sometimes called postpartum).

labor & delivery nurses manage women in labor and assist the physician/midwife with the delivery of the baby. they also manage women who are having health issues during their pregnancy or women who think they might be in labor, but actually aren't. they also assist in some form or fashion in the or for c-sections. your role will be different in that regard depending on the hospital where you work.

nursery nurses work in the newborn nursery and help infants that might be having difficulties. babies who are having serious problems will be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (nicu).

mother/baby couplet nurses work with the mother and the baby and do alot of teaching....everything from breastfeeding help to teaching how to bathe a newborn and how to change diapers, etc. this sounded like what you were interested in.

many hospitals expect the nurses to be cross-trained in all three areas. especially the smaller hospitals. larger hospitals will generally have separate nurses for each of these three areas. it is to your advantage to be as proficient as possible in all the areas though because you never know when you want a change.

you have a couple of choices to get to be a registered nurse....one way is to go to a community college and get an associate degree in nursing (adn). this generally takes 2 years, maybe a little longer. the other route is to get a 4 year degree...bachelor of science in nursing (bsn). just don't go to school for lpn. you will not be able to work in ob in most hospitals with that. one more thing....keep your grades up in college....getting accepted into a nursing program can sometimes be a difficult endeavor and alot hinges on your grades. if i can answer any more questions for you, please do not hesitate to ask! good luck to you!

:anpom:

ncbutterfly · Jan 11, 2011

I was planning on asking this same question. Thank you so much for your replies. :up:

gouranga · May 23, 2011

This post was really helpful to me, too. Thanks!

NurseB_, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2011

hi and congratulations on your decision to be a nurse! you will need to become a registered nurse to work in obstetrics. the ob department (short for obstetrics) is comprised of three different areas: labor & delivery, newborn nursery and mother/baby couplets (sometimes called postpartum).

labor & delivery nurses manage women in labor and assist the physician/midwife with the delivery of the baby. they also manage women who are having health issues during their pregnancy or women who think they might be in labor, but actually aren't. they also assist in some form or fashion in the or for c-sections. your role will be different in that regard depending on the hospital where you work.

nursery nurses work in the newborn nursery and help infants that might be having difficulties. babies who are having serious problems will be transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (nicu).

mother/baby couplet nurses work with the mother and the baby and do alot of teaching....everything from breastfeeding help to teaching how to bathe a newborn and how to change diapers, etc. this sounded like what you were interested in.

many hospitals expect the nurses to be cross-trained in all three areas. especially the smaller hospitals. larger hospitals will generally have separate nurses for each of these three areas. it is to your advantage to be as proficient as possible in all the areas though because you never know when you want a change.

you have a couple of choices to get to be a registered nurse....one way is to go to a community college and get an associate degree in nursing (adn). this generally takes 2 years, maybe a little longer. the other route is to get a 4 year degree...bachelor of science in nursing (bsn). just don't go to school for lpn. you will not be able to work in ob in most hospitals with that. one more thing....keep your grades up in college....getting accepted into a nursing program can sometimes be a difficult endeavor and alot hinges on your grades. if i can answer any more questions for you, please do not hesitate to ask! good luck to you!
:anpom:

i'm also interested in becoming a labor and delivery nurse. i am a senior nursing student and thinking about career plans. i see you mentioned that there are 3 aspects to being a labor and delivery nurse. reading about the different positions it seems like i'm very interested in doing all 3! :confused: in my hometown which has a small hospital all of the l&d nurses perform all 3 duties, but as you said at many big hospitals different nurses to different positions. do you know if it's possible to do all 3 at a hospital that likes to divide the tasks up? for instance, do you think i could work in a different place for the 3 days that i work in a week? i'm just interested in knowing if this can be possible.

klone, MSN, RN · Jun 17, 2011

It just depends on the facility. Many places have L&D nurses who just do labor and antepartum, and then postpartum nurses who take care of the moms and babies afterwards. Other places, even larger facilities require that the nurses do all areas. Where I work (3000 births/year - not HUGE but certainly not small) the L&D nurses are expected to work couplets 50% of the time.

mrl101502 · Jan 5, 2012

I wanted to shed some light on nursing degress. The 2 year degree program will most likely take you longer than two years. There are several prerequisites that are required to be accepted into a nursing program. I would recommend that you obtain the program sheet from the college you plan on attending. That way you can begin to prepare yourself for school :)It took me a total of 7 years to complete my ADN nursing degree... mainly because I had two babies during school: one during my prerequisites and one during nursing school. Also, try to get a job as a unit secretary on an L & D floor or in an OB office. I am not sure how it is where you are, but here, they want experienced L & D nurses. Best of luck to you, nursing is a great career!

Nurse2b7337 · Jan 6, 2012

This is a great post. This is the specialty that's interests me the most. QTBabynurse you rock. How long have you been in L/D?? Did you know in clinicals that this was for you or have you always known?

StephHarri · Apr 16, 2014

These posts have been really helpful, but there are things that are still getting me.

1) Prerequisites.

What prerequisite classes should I be taking for my first years of college? Will I have to get an Associate's Degree with my prereq's and mandatory classes? Or can I get my whole college career done with, with a Bachelor's Degree? Am I supposed to get my prereq's and mandatory classes done, then move onto the classes specifically for becoming a Neonatal Nurse? Actually, are Neonatal Nurses and L&D nurses the same thing? Am I over thinking this? Did I mention I'm a senior in HS, and I have less than two months before I graduate and I'm not even sure what college I want to go to?

2) College suggestions!

I live in Idaho. I'd like to go close-ish to where I live in Wilder. I'd really appreciate suggestions of colleges to attend with reasons why, but I'm not going to be too picky. (I actually feel like I'm asking to much.)

3) Any other tips/comments

Anything you wish you would've known that you had to learn the hard way? Well, I'd like to know, too. I'd like to learn from your mistake(s) and extend the knowledge to my peers who are interested in the same field I am, and to also prevent the mistake from happening again.

If you have any information (at all, really, I need all of this information since this is what I plan to do for my future) that I should or you think I need to know, don't hesitate to make a post that's even longer than this one!

Thank you for all of your help,

Stephanie Harrington