Love to talk to L&D, Doulas & Midwives for career info

rn-bsn-cnm · Feb 24, 2001

there are many ways to get into this career field,i've been working in ob gyn since 96.now i'm persuing my bsn though the regents college,but you know you can become a midwife without being a nurse use msn search engine and look up midwives and you'll find multiple sites for correspondance course and ect.

Major · Mar 3, 2001

Hi,

There are several routes to take to become a midwife.

Take a look at acnm.org for more info.

A nurse midwife (CNM) is a midwife who went through a nursing program (usually associate or BS level), then a midwifery program. These Midwifery programs can be at the masters level (I am currently attending a masters prepared nurse-midwifery course) or at a certification level in which no degree awarded. Most CNM's (80%) ARE masters prepared. CNMs are recognized in all 50 states.

While most CNM's tend to practice in hospitals, many do birthing center and home births of low risk women.

Full time most programs will take about 2 years.

Advantage of hospital work is to be able to bring the midwifery touch to people who either arn't eligible for birthing center or home births -OR, like in the state of Ill where there ARE no birthing centers!

These midwives, in consultation with OB physicians - (notice I DIDn'T say "under the SUPERVISION of...) can care for moderate to high risk patients in a Labor and Delivery environment.

A direct entry midwife (DEM) (also 18 mo to 2 year program) is also supported by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) these midwives did not start out as nurses, but did take a nationally recognized midwifery course and are nationally certified by the certification section of ACNM. Some states do not recognize this level of midwifery and are illeagle in some states.

A third type of midwife is the MANA (sorry - cant remember the exact full name, no disrespect to the MANA midwives intended.)

These are the "lay" midwives (oops - sorry mana midwives - I know you don't like this name...) They usually compleate an apprintice style of midwifery program. While many fine and skilled midwives are tought this way, the programs generally have no core curriclum, standards or way evaluate and quantify they education provide, these programs are not accepted for national certification nor are they recognized to practice legally in many states.

Length of program varies.

Doula schools abound. Doula's are great labor support persons, they usually attend classes with their clients, and provide continuous support throughout labor - no matter WHERE the client labors - home or in a hospital.

length of programs vary

Hope this helps

Please excuse my spelling - bad, I know

Hi,

I'm a mother of a 2 year old and would like to get back into the working world. I used to work in the high tech industry and definitely do not want to do that again. I am very interested in changing careers and doing something related to pregnancy & childbirth. I have several questions for L&D nurses, Doulas & Midwives regarding your career, what kind of schooling is needed, a typical day/shift, can I work part-time?, what are the salaries like etc? I am having a hard time finding info on these careers and would also like to know how I go about getting info from my local resources? What lingo is used and who do I talk to? Where do I call? Etc.

If anyone is interested in talking w/ me, my e-mail address is: [email protected]

Thanks!

Francine

earthangel30 · Mar 7, 2001

I have two small children as well. Although i am presently working as an rn. I am very interested in pregnancy/childbirth. I can tell you (as one who has used a doula). They are a great resource, and maybe even just a great and chepear way of getting your foot in the door and seeing if this is something you really want to get into. Your work basically your own schedule- that is as we all know that babies come any time of night or day, but mostly how many cases you take on. Most doulas i've talked to make about $200 a delivery. for more information you can find the website at http://www.dona.com (doulas of north america). they have all sorts of links as well that'll be helpfull. From what i've put together i think it comes down to about $500 to get certified. (books, classes, certification dues etc etc etc).