Published May 23, 2011
Rachel Lawrence
1 Post
I am currently in a LPN/LVN program. What route would i take after completion of this program to be a doula or midwife
sommeil, ASN, RN
80 Posts
it doesn't take much to become a doula.. you don't even need a college degree. you basically shadow another doula, take a few childbirth/breastfeeding classes, and then attend a few births and the parents rate you. then you pay a fee to become a registered doula. here's a link to 'birthing from within' doula program:
http://www.birthingfromwithin.com/doula_program
you need a masters degree to become a CNM. some universities have midwifery programs.
OR you could become a lay midwife (i think it's three years) but then you can ONLY do homebirths (which aren't legal in every state). There's one college here that offers training: http://midwiferycollege.org/
AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP
631 Posts
Midwives who seek the type of education you mention in your answer are not lay midwives, they are Certified Professional Midwives (CPM). I am a graduate of the college you've linked and have an Associate Degree of Science in Midwifery, the CPM credential, and a license to practice in my state.
CPMs attend births in homes and free-standing birthing centers primarily. Home birth is legal is all 50 states. CPMs are not recognized in all 50 states, but are in more than half of the US and growing all the time. Thus, a woman can give birth at home legally but her attendant may not be legal.
North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) oversees CPM education.
Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC) oversees the schools that educate CPMs
American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) is the professional organization for Certified Nurse-Midwives and educational programs.
sorry for the misinformation about CPMs. i don't really know a ton about it except that i had my last baby at home and i LOVED it!! :)
It's okay! Just saw an opportunity to educate :) Once I was acting as a doula to a doctor having a baby at a university hospital and she bragged to the nurse I was in midwifery school. The nurse asked if I was in the University program and I said I was going to National College of Midwifery. The replied, "Oh, so then you'll be a lay midwife when you're done?" My reply was, "No, I will be a Registered Midwife just as after your three year education you are a Registered Nurse, not a lay nurse."
sandi1743
195 Posts
Midwives who seek the type of education you mention in your answer are not lay midwives, they are Certified Professional Midwives (CPM). I am a graduate of the college you've linked and have an Associate Degree of Science in Midwifery, the CPM credential, and a license to practice in my state. CPMs attend births in homes and free-standing birthing centers primarily. Home birth is legal is all 50 states. CPMs are not recognized in all 50 states, but are in more than half of the US and growing all the time. Thus, a woman can give birth at home legally but her attendant may not be legal.
And some states to license lay midwives, and some states even make it "illegal" for a CNM to attend home birth - it is just crazy.
DONA is another great place to start looking.
http://www.dona.org/
I have done doula work (I am not cert'ed) for friends, family and others and it was a great experience!
They are not licensing lay midwives (the point I am trying to make here), states are licensing Certified Professional Midwives who have obtained education and demonstrated competency via skills and written exams.
I understand the difference between a lay midwife and CPM - but it was my understanding that in some states "lay midwives" were able become licensed via exams and skill testing.
Yes, when they do those skills testing and exams they earn the credential of Certified Professional Midwife from NARM, who in turns notifies the state and the license is granted. A lay midwife does no formal or standardized education and has no license.
thank you for clearing that up for me! You are the first one to explain it that way. I had been under the impression (from reading, schools, people) that one needed to go to midwifery school and then pass the exams etc to be a CPM but that a lay midwife could pass the exams but was not considered to be a CPM due to the lack of the degree.
You're welcome and it IS extremely confusing!
NARM allows for two ways to become a CPM:
1) Portfolio Evaluation Process ("PEP"; see NARM link), which means the student follows the academic and clinical learning objectives meeting prescribed competencies, then takes the skills and written exam, or
2) Enrolls in a MEAC (see above post for links) school for the same, but in a more formalized setting (brick and mortar or distance based schools) meeting the same basic objectives but in the end earns a degree and the credential following their written exam.
States who license direct-entry midwives are by majority moving toward NARM managing the process and relying on NARM to evaluate the education and notify them of qualified applicants. More and more direct-entry midwives are following one of the two paths as shown above rather than falling to the old ways of the lay midwife. To me, it's a win-win for midwives, consumers, and the state.
totally! as someone planning on going into midwifery -as a CNM due to where i live - i have total respect for CPM's and think that they should be given more credit than they get. As far as non-licensed midwives i have also seen them have great births that other midwives would not take on.
However - when something goes wrong and the state attorneys get involved it is all about bashing midwifery in general. Almost all of those women/families in these cases knew the risks and went with the model of care for a reason - a chance at a birth that they wanted and knew the risks.