I am interested in opportunities for Direct-entry certified midwives

[Britmw]

Hi all,

I am a British trained, direct entry midwife. By that, I mean I have a University degree in midwifery but no prior training as a nurse. I have done some research and have found that the nearest job title/qualification to mine is a Certified Midwife in NJ, NY and RI.

I am looking into emigrating to Rhode Island and am planning on converting my qualifications through University of Philidelphia to eventually gain licensure.

What I am finding hard though is getting information about job opportunities for Certified Midwives. The hospitals have not been very communicative with me when I ask if they employ CM's or solely CNM's to work in their units.

Does anybody have any idea about the employability of CM's in RI specifically but also NY and NJ?

Thank you so much for your time

[olive&pimiento]

Hi Britmw,

I just wanted to give a perspective from NJ. I am a CPM and I am going back to school for nurse midwifery. I REALLY wanted to do a CM program because it would have shaved 18 months off of my education, but after researching I decided against it. It seems that while the CM is recognized in NJ, hospitals are very slow to grant privileges to non-nurse midwives here. I think there is just one practicing CM in northern NJ. There could be more now, since I was researching over a year ago, but it did not look promising for finding a job and I did not want to end up with another unusable degree. I was also advised against it from CNMs I know who believe it with be a long time before anything changes in this regard. It seems that NY is a good option for this degree. Good luck!

[Britmw]

Thank you so much olive&pimiento,

I have heard similar things from Rhode Island, that although the qualification and job title is recognised employability it very limited. In Rhode Island CM's have not got prescribing rights (despite having the training and qualifications) and therefore their employment chances are limited. In NY, a CM must have a Masters degree and I am not sure if my degree will translate to an American Masters...so I think that just about puts an end to my job seeking in the US!