Is there such thing as a Perinatal Nurse Practitioner?

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I for a long time had desire to be a Labor & Delivery Nurse. But under the encouragement of my family I have been contemplating becoming a Nurse Practitioner. If I oblige, I would want a specialty with similar roles; monitoring fetal heart rate, ultrasounds and most importantly assisting in delivery. All of the specialties as a Nurse Practitioner I've read about thus far do not assist in delivery, or even attend, besides a Perinatal Nurse Practitioner. Does this specialization exist? And if it does, do any of you know the average salary?

thanks in advance

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

What about CNM? That's a MSN level title that handles all you want and more (well woman & postnatal care too )

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I'm not really interested in becoming a midwife. I was set on being a L&D nurse, but if being a Perinatal Nurse Practitioner is a real thing, I think I'll go with that.

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Have you thought about women's Healthcare nurse practitioner?

Aside from CNM this is likely your best option.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

If the L&D RN role is what you want, I wouldn't waste the money and time on a master's, unless it was required for the position. WHNP and CNM are the closest things, but neither of those function as the L&D nurse. Now, that said, I work at a freestanding birth center, and when the midwives (all CNM) attend births, they are the only one supporting Mom through labor, and the RN comes in when Mom is close to pushing, and supports mom in the postpartum period. The midwife leaves once Mom and Baby are stable. They also do the prenatal visits. So most of the fetal monitoring, U/S and such that you mentioned are performed by the midwives.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Look into clinical nurse specialist. An APN that does the pre and perinatal monitoring is a CNM. They handle prenatal through delivery and well woman care

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I'm not really interested in becoming a midwife. I was set on being a L&D nurse, but if being a Perinatal Nurse Practitioner is a real thing, I think I'll go with that.

I'm confused. What is it that you don't want to be a midwife? The things you listed sound exactly what a hospital based midwife would do.

I also don't think being a nurse practioner should be something you do because your family tells you too. If you want to be a L&D RN then do that. You can always go back later to be an NP if you decide it's something YOU want.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be a certified nurse midwife. It's an equivalent to an NP as far as scope and works specifically with women in labor. There are no other APRN certifications that work with laboring women.

So in short. There is no such thing as a perinatal NP. That's what a CNM is.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

Is it just the title "midwife" that you dont like?

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Specializes in Emergency.

There are two roles you are talking about, the Advanced Practice RN (APRN) that attends the birth and cares for the mother throughout the pregnancy is a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM). Some CNMs practice in hospital deliveries and others try to stay with home births, while others work at birth centers. The range of their experiences and work practices can be fairly wide, it might be beneficial to shadow several in different settings to see what options they would provide.

The individual that takes care of the baby just afterwards would be a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP). I'm not an expert on either of these roles, and the state actually gets to draw the lines on exactly what is in the scope of practice for each, so your state board of nursing would be the most likely place to look for exact details. As far as I know, as a NNP, you would not be attending the birth, but would be brought in afterwards, or maybe you would be there for the very end of the birth, but not during the pregnancy. I'm sure someone who is a NNP can clarify that point.

I would also second the poster who basically said, if you like L&D nursing, than their is no reason you have to become an NP. I think quite a lot of nurses are getting told they need to become NPs when in fact, there is nothing wrong with being a bedside nurse, or a nurse educator, or a nurse leader. All are very valid and noble careers that people should be proud of and happy doing.

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Perinatal Nursing | About Careers and Schools

I didn't think it would, but then I read this and get confused..

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
Perinatal Nursing | About Careers and Schools

I didn't think it would, but then I read this and get confused..

Not exactly a good source as it's an advertisement site/directory not a professional organization

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