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How do you Become a Certified Nurse Midwife?

What do I have to do to become a Certified Nurse Midwife?


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Part of the midwives’ responsibilities is to give care to pregnant women, postnatal care and also to the infant. There are two separate certifications for midwives and the first one is Certified Midwife or CM. with CM, a background to nursing is not required but in most states, one is not allowed to work as a midwife. Legally speaking one with no CM is not a certified midwife therefore the person cannot practice. The other certification called Certified Nurse Midwife or CNM, which requires a background in nursing. This certificate will allow anyone who bears it to work as a midwife practically in any state in the United States.

To get any of the two certifications, one must complete an academic program in midwifery that is recognized by the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) Division of Accreditation (DOA). If nursing background is not there, a student must take a bachelor’s degree that is focused on science such as chemistry, biology or anatomy before getting into a midwife program. If in case the prerequisites in the bachelor’s degree program are not enough, the student may have to take some courses before getting into a midwifery school. It takes three years to complete the program for CM.

Those who aim to get the certification as a Certified Nurse Midwife, a nursing degree must be taken and finished. All midwives must complete a bachelor’s degree while some complete a nursing degree, become a Registered Nurse (RN) then go on completing the midwifery requirements in a master’s degree program. Others consider the option of post-baccalaureate certificate and go on to the PhD program. In 2010, all certified nurse midwife aiming to become midwives are required to complete a graduate program.

After the approved academic program is done, the next step is to take the national certification exam. Once the candidates pass the exam, the certificate is awarded, either the Certified Midwife or Certified Nurse Midwife certificate. These certifications are awarded only by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) and the certificate is valid for eight years.

Midwives are required to continue taking education units during the eight years and this is known as the Certification Maintenance Program (CMP). This is a requirement for the new license to be granted after the eight year period otherwise the midwife will have to take the national certification exam again to get another license. Nurse midwives just like any other medical professionals must be updated with present and latest techniques and procedures to make sure they deliver only the best care to their patients.
Aug 14th, 2012 at 12:05 PM
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