How hard is it to become a midwife?

It is not very hard to become a midwife, although it can be a long process. Midwives are specialized nurses, so you will need to complete nursing school and then graduate from a nurse-midwifery program. This process takes around 8 years to complete.

How to become a midwife without a nursing degree

To become a midwife without a nursing degree, you must take online courses. Continuing education classes offered by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) are generally accredited and state-approved.

What are the pros and cons of being a midwife?

The pros of being a midwife are competitive pay and rewarding work, while the cons are limited abilities and stressful conditions. Here is a more detailed look at the pros and cons of being a midwife:

What should I study to become a midwife?

You should study coursework resulting in an MSN degree to become a midwife. Nurse midwives must earn several degrees to practice midwifery. These degrees focus on patient care, math, and science coursework.

How To Become A Nurse Midwife: What It Is and Career Path

What is a nurse midwife and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Sophia Thomas

The average nurse midwife salary is $74,490. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an nursing major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a nurse midwife. Nurse midwives with a Certified Nurse Technician (CNT) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Nurse Midwife?

Sophia Thomas

President, American Association of Nurse Practitioners

Graduates should absolutely get involved by joining their state NP organization as well as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. State organizations provide opportunities for networking with colleagues and advocate for health policy issues that impact state-level practice. It is also important to join the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, which provides further opportunities for networking, continuing education, professional growth, and the latest information related to state and federal health policy issues impacting NPs and the patients we serve. AANP is the largest professional association for NPs in the world, and we advocate for all NPs on the state and national levels.

I recommend new NPs interview their prospective employers, not only to learn what is expected of the NP regarding the role, patient load, and clinic time, but also to learn about the work environment, professional expectations, the employers' understanding of the NP role, and opportunities for orientation and mentorship. They should inquire about compensation rates and standard benefits as well as additional compensation offered, such as license, certification, and DEA fees, as well as reimbursement for continuing education and any productivity incentives offered.

New NPs shouldn't limit themselves to being a clinician. They should get involved in health policy, research, and leadership opportunities. I always recommend that new NPs get a mentor, a seasoned NP who can facilitate continued professional growth in areas they want to focus on. The Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners have a formal mentorship program that I encourage all NPs to get involved in.

ScoreNurse MidwifeUS Average

Salary

5.8

Avg. Salary $74,490

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 9.93%

Black or African American 12.09%

Hispanic or Latino 8.95%

Unknown 4.26%

White 64.34%

Gender

female 93.13%

male 6.87%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.1

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.8

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a nurse midwife

Explore nurse midwife education requirements

Most common nurse midwife degrees

Bachelor's

43.0 %

Master's

34.0 %

Associate

8.9 %

Start to develop specific nurse midwife skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	28.46%
OB	10.43%
CNM	10.34%
Patient Care	7.54%
CPR	6.86%

Complete relevant nurse midwife training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New nurse midwives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a nurse midwife based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real nurse midwife resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed nurse midwife usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed nurse midwife in most of states. 43 states require nurse midwives to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License Url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Colorado	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse

Research nurse midwife duties and responsibilities

Full scope CNM care for busy manage healthcare facility and hospital.
Manage patient pain relief and sedation by providing pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, monitor patient response and record care plans accordingly.
Provide tracheostomy care, trauma, burns, diabetic care.
Participate in the clinical education of ob residents, medical and nursing students.

Prepare your nurse midwife resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your nurse midwife resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a nurse midwife resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Nurse Midwife Resume templates

Build a professional Nurse Midwife resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Nurse Midwife resume.

Apply for nurse midwife jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a nurse midwife job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do nurse midwives rate their job?

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Nurse Midwife reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2022

Cons

What is there not to like? It's such a rewarding job!

A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2019

Pros

Very rewarding job helping others and bringing new life into the world.