Nurse-Midwife School, Salary and Career Info
Learn About Nurse-Midwife Schools and Careers
Learn About Nurse-Midwife Schools and Careers
Find Nurse-Midwife Schools | Nurse-Midwife Career and School Guide
| | Nurse-midwives are highly trained professional health care practitioners who specialize in prenatal, delivery and postpartum care for women. Becoming a nurse-midwife takes focus and dedication, but the rewards are immeasurable each time you touch the lives of expecting mothers and help to welcome babies into the world. If this role sounds fulfilling to you, read on to see if nurse-midwife school might be a good choice for your future. |
Nurse-Midwife Career Overview
A highly autonomous, yet team-focused health care professional, the nurse-midwife can prescribe applicable medications, deliver babies, and provide care to women throughout their reproductive lifespan. As a nurse-midwife, you'll spend time talking with patients and their family members about all facets of prenatal and postpartum health, including the physical, emotional and even cultural shifts that occur during pregnancy. If you are interested in health care, and the thought of investing in the lives of your patients is appealing to you, midwifery might be a good fit for you.
The Nurse-Midwife Scope of Practice
Nurse-midwives can work in hospitals, physicians' offices, public clinics and birth centers, or they can run their own practices. According to the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), the highest percentage of nurse-midwives work on teams in hospitals, providing round-the-clock care to laboring women; conducting prenatal and postpartum visits; offering birth control, menopause and other women's care services; and, of course, completing newborn check-ups.
Learn more about the various nurse-midwife career settings.
Midwifery and Natural Childbirth
Women who opt to deliver with a nurse-midwife in the United States typically have low-risk pregnancies and are dedicated to a positive, natural childbirth experience without any unnecessary medical or technological interventions. These women typically feel that natural, often un-medicated, birth is an empowering way to experience what women's bodies have been undergoing since the dawn of mankind. An astounding two-thirds of all births worldwide are overseen by midwives, compared to less than 8 percent in the U.S.
Life-Spectrum Care
Nurse-Midwife School
The Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME) is a branch of ACNM that serves as the accrediting body for nurse-midwife schools in the U.S. As of 2010 they are requiring all certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) to hold a graduate degree in midwifery before they can hold a clinical practice.
Since CNMs are essentially advanced practice nurses who receive graduate-level training as midwives, your fastest road to becoming a nurse-midwife is to get a bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN), then complete midwifery training at an accredited nurse-midwife school. There are many ways to become a nurse midwife, however. See our Nurse-Midwife School page to learn more.
Nurse-Midwife Salary
ACNM's 2007 compensation survey found that the median salary range for full-time certified midwives was $79,093 to $89,916, with the highest salaries topping off at $140,000 and more. This often included completing an average of 53.9 hours of on-call time per week. The respondents' academic degree was found to have a high positive correlation to higher salaries, meaning that the higher your degree, the more likely you are to earn a salary in the higher ranges.
Search our extensive database to find a nurse-midwife school and increase your earning potential today.
Nurse-Midwife Career Outlook
ACNM's 2008 goal is to see midwives attending 20 percent of U.S. births by the year 2020. This is a challenging goal, but not out of the question as more and more women become aware of the health benefits of natural childbirth. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses (RNs), including nurse-midwives, will experience much faster than average job growth between 2005 and 2016, adding over 587,000 new jobs and replacing the positions of nurses leaving the profession.
Attending nurse-midwife school is a great way to open up your career opportunities as a nurse or health care practitioner. If becoming a nurse-midwife seems as satisfying to you as it does to the over 7,000 certified nurse-midwives practicing in the U.S.,* start researching schools today to get started in this rewarding career.
Sources:
*American College of Nurse-Midwives, 1990-2009
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009
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