new to nursing, advice please

Specialties CNM

Published

Hello,

I want to become a midwife. I am 30 and have a B.A. in Liberal Arts and a M.S. in Biology. I live in northern Minnesota and was just accepted to a LPN program at the local community college. I am not really sure how to step up to midwifery. Here is my current plan. What do I do next?

1) Complete LPN in 2011

2) Complete Associates RN in 2012 through a distance learning course

3) Get experience nursing (I'll try for L&D but I'm not sure how to do this)

4) ? -- Here is where I get stuck. I know that many states require you to have a Bachelors in nursing to apply for CNM and some require a masters. Will it be difficult for me to move up from an associates to a bachelors or a masters? In a few years my husband and I should be able to move to the twin cities or (possibly) Denver for me to continue my education but I am not sure if I will be a competitive candidate. I am at a unique point right now where we can afford for me to spend a few years as a volunteer or take a low paying job if neecessary.

Since I am just getting started I thought I might get a few tips on how to become a strong candidate for schools and for the workforce.

Thanks for your thoughts.

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Specializes in OB.

Hi! Take a look at the many posts about Frontier School of Midwifery. They are truly one of the most well known and respected schools for midwifery and they offer a ASN to MSN Bridge program so that in approx 3 years you go from having an Associates degree to having a Master's and getting your CNM! Plus, it's almost entirely a distance program so you do it from your community.

I am doing it now and I love it! One of the midwives that I work with graduated from there and she's an awesome midwife!

Good Luck!!

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Specializes in Family Practice, Women's Health.

There are also several schools that offer a "bridge" program where if you have a bachelor's degree in any field, you can simply apply directly to a CNM/MSN program and get your RN license along the way. I am not sure, but I believe there are distance options for this as well. It may be worth your while to do it that way if you know you want to go directly into midwifery. Invest in a copy of Midwifery Today's "Paths to becoming a Midwife" and also explore the various education programs on the ACNM website.

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