Question

I'm not a midwife yet, so I can't speak to the salary range (and it's very dependent on where you live). I would start by checking out the website for the 'American College of Nurse Midwives' (www.midwife.org) as they have a TON of useful information and a listing of accredited programs. You are correct, the CNM is licensed and legal in all 50 states and requires a nursing degree. Since you are just starting in nursing, you will also need to have a master's degree (required for entry into practice as a CNM by 2010).

If you switch your undergrad degree to nursing now, and already know that you want to be a CNM, you can often spend extra clinical hours in L&D and women's health (to get extra experience). I worked as a PCA in the hospital during nursing school, which was great experience. They are usually very good about working around a nursing student's schedule.

If there are no CNM programs where you live, you can attend one of several distance programs (Frontier is a good school to which many members of this board are applying to---www.midwives.org--there are also other schools, all of which are listed on the ACNM website).

Good luck and post if you have more questions. Oh, and I would check out the website for Midwifery Today (a magazine that I have been reading and learning a lot from). They also have message boards for future midwives...their site is www.midwiferytoday.com