How do you become a midwife in the US?

There are two kinds of midwives: Certified Nurse-Midwives and Direct-Entry Midwives. CNM’s are a type of nurse practitioner. They are Registered Nurses with Bachelor’s degrees who go on to earn an advanced degree in midwifery. This is usually about a 2-3 year program they complete after having worked in L&D, a nursery, or NICU for some time. CNM’s are legally recognized in all states, though their scope of practice varies according to location. Most CNM’s work in hospitals under a doctor’s practice, though some attend home births. Not all CNM’s deliver babies at all, many do only gynecology.

If you want to go this route, check into your local colleges for pre-requisites for nursing. Before entering a nursing program, you will need to take courses such as biology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, and chemistry. One example of a Nurse-Midwifery school is Frontier, but keep in mind that this is after you earn your RN: http://www.midwives.org/home.html

DEM’s are legal in most states, but not all. They do not need to be nurses before attending a 2-3 year “direct-entry” program for midwifery. They attend home births and sometimes work in free-standing birth centers. Since they have no medical degree, they cannot work in hospitals. They are licensed professionals however, and also have a scope of practice. In my state, a formal school is optional, but not required for DEMs. Students can choose to apprentice under a licensed midwife and attend a certain number of prenatal visits, newborn and post-partem assessments, and births before being eligible to take the state exam. Many DEM’s worked as doulas or childbirth instructors to demonstrate interest and gain experience before becoming midwives. You can find out more about direct entry schools here: http://meacschools.org/index.php

The Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) is a good resource for information on all types of midwifery: http://mana.org/definitions.html