I want to be a midwife, where do I get started?

[Vivy]

I'm 26, and debating whether it's a good idea to get my LPN or RN qualifiction before embarking on a midwife course. This is for several reasons, thanks to my age I would like to be dependant on hospitality work to support myself for as short a time as possible, I have very itchy feet and would like to go work overseas as soon as possible(and very possibly do the midwifery part of the course abroad, especially as courses for this seem to be very limited in the States. So if I do this, it would help a lot if I could work as a nurse abroad while I study midwifery).

To those of you who are on this path, what advice do you have to give me? Thanks in advance.

[clhRN2b2010]

Hmm...first you need to clarify what type of midwifery you speak of.

Nurse Midwifery is the Masters level which requires (almost always) a nursing undergraduate or portion. Nurse Midwives are employed by hospitals, birth centers, and in private practice. Whether you choose to complete your Rn degree first and complete a Masters later, or perhaps you have an undergrad degree already in another field; if so you can look into what are called Direct Entry programs and complete the nursing and midwifery courses progressively. The Nurse Midwifery will also be the most transferrable education if you are looking to work overseas. You will still need to meet any specific educational criteria for whatever country you are interested in and it will vary by country.

Another path you could take is called CPM- or certified professional midwifery. CPM do not neccessarily have a nursing background and are licensed in close to half the states in the country to practice legally and with insurance reimbursement. In those states, one could legally attend homebirths and have a private practice, but are not employed by hospitals. If having a steady income, benefits, and regular hours are something you're after; this may be something to consider.

Often times, birth philosophies can vary between the two types can vary significantly. Either way, these are all factors to think about and research.

Keep reading and asking questions! Best wishes!

[Vivy]

I Googled the CPM you mentioned, but there aren't any courses in that close to me, I am in Georgia anyway and I have found that anything that deviates from traditional medicine hasn't really taken off in this area. I'd be more inclined to go for Nurse Midwifery anyway, as I am very ambitious and it seems like I could go a lot further with that one.

On top of studying midwifery, my dream would be to one day go into independant practice with a fusion of traditional and alternative therapies, my dream birthing center would be complete with things like nutritional counselling and a prenatal yoga studio. But then one step at a time of course.