Reproductive Health Career Options

[nnnt]

Hello everybody!

I'm changing careers from business to healthcare and, while I an idea of what I want to do, I still haven't decided which career to pursue.

I want to work with reproductive medicine, and I would love to work with almost everything related to that, but I've been thinking of a few careers: midwifery, LD nursing, fertility nursing, nicu, genetic nursing and genetic counseling, but, since I think I would like to help couples that are trying to conceive, maybe a few of these careers wouldn't be the best option.

I wanted to know what are your ideas on this field and which pathway(s) would be the best. I know genetic counseling is not really nursing, but it's so hard to find forums about the subject out there...

That said, a few observations:

a) I'm an international student with no work permission right now (will get it through husband in a few years), so I can only volunteer to get experience before I enter a program (this has been very challenging for me, especially for genetic counseling);

b) I'm going to live in California-SF area (currently living in Illinois) and heard that the nursing market is pretty saturated there;

c) I don't think I would be happy doing anything else, but would accept doing work in other fields in order to get where I want;

d) I've been thinking of getting doula training in order to get familiar with the field. Is it worth it?

Thank you so much for your help :)

[hope12]

I want to become a midwife, and unfortunately where I live, there isn't anywhere that really hires midwives unless I move several hours away. :/

Probably not what you're really looking for, but have you considered doing doula training?

DONA International â€" What is a doula?

[nlitened]

I once worked a temp job at a fertility clinic. I loved the experience, don't get me wrong, but it was quite depressing. The miscarriages, the multiple failed IVF sessions...a lot of crying in that office. It was great when you had the success stories and got to see the little cute babies that came out of that, but there were far too many stories that didn't end in success (and this Dr. had the highest success rates in his region). I guess I just found it too depressing, but it all is quite interesting. Getting women pregnant is no joke! But with that being said, that didn't stop me from wanting to be a CNM. It makes you appreciate just how much of a miracle every pregnancy is. Research the education requirements for each profession you are looking into and go from there. L&D, fertility, and NICU all require you to go the nursing route then gain the specialty after. Whereas, genetics is a whole other ball game. Plus, like hope12 stated, you need to look at what is in need for your particular area.

[RunBabyRN]

I'm also in the SF Bay Area, and there are few jobs in fertility (the nursing market JS incredibly saturated, but some specialties just have few positions period). I have seen maybe two posted on Craigslist in the 8 months I have been diligently searching for work. Those positions also required about 5 years of experience, if I remember right. You will definitely be wise to be open to other types of nursing. Also, you'll need your BSN to find work in the Bay Area.

You our may want to look into volunteer opportunities in the areas of nursing that interest you. It can give you a feel for what that area is like, which can be very helpful in figuring out what you want.

Doulas are incredibly popular in the Bay Area, so I think that going that route would likely benefit you. Also look into any kind of lactation training you can get. You will be very appealing to women's health units with that.