Occupation · SOC 29-1161
Nurse Midwives
Diagnose and coordinate all aspects of the birthing process, either independently or as part of a healthcare team. May provide well-woman gynecological care. Must have specialized, graduate nursing education.
Median wage
$128,790
$74,670–$177,040
Projected growth
—
—
Annual openings
—
per year
Employed (US)
8,280
Job Zone 5
Typical preparation
Extensive preparation
Stackable credential programs
7 mapped
Core skills
Active ListeningCritical ThinkingSocial PerceptivenessSpeakingActive LearningMonitoringReading ComprehensionCoordination
Knowledge areas
Medicine and DentistryPsychologyCustomer and Personal ServiceEnglish LanguageBiology
Technology & tools
Medical softwareSpreadsheet softwareOffice suite software
Representative tasks
Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information.Provide patients with direct family planning services, such as inserting intrauterine devices, dispensing oral contraceptives, and fitting cervical barriers, including cervical caps or diaphragms.Develop and implement individualized plans for health care management.Prescribe medications as permitted by state regulations.Explain procedures to patients, family members, staff members or others.Order and interpret diagnostic or laboratory tests.Initiate emergency interventions to stabilize patients.Document findings of physical examinations.Educate patients and family members regarding prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, newborn, or interconception care.Perform physical examinations by taking vital signs, checking neurological reflexes, examining breasts, or performing pelvic examinations.Write information in medical records or provide narrative summaries to communicate patient information to other health care providers.Provide primary health care, including pregnancy and childbirth, to women.Consult with or refer patients to appropriate specialists when conditions exceed the scope of practice or expertise.Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in midwifery.Instruct student nurse midwives, medical students, or residents on the birthing process.Establish practice guidelines for specialty areas such as primary health care of women, care of the childbearing family, and newborn care.Plan, provide, or evaluate educational programs for nursing staff, health care teams, or the community.Conduct clinical research on topics such as maternal or infant health care, contraceptive methods, breastfeeding, and gynecological care.Manage newborn care during the first weeks of life.
Competency framework
Skill expectations by proficiency level.
emerging
Prenatal patient health histories and symptom documentation — collect and record under clinical supervision in a hospital or birth center setting.Fetal heartbeat and uterine measurements — monitor and report findings to supervising midwife or physician during routine prenatal visits.Diagnostic and laboratory test orders — submit and retrieve results under direct guidance of a preceptor in an outpatient obstetric clinic.Individualized care plans — contribute structured input to development activities under the direction of a senior nurse midwife.Clinical procedures and examination steps — explain clearly to patients and family members using approved protocols in a supervised labor and delivery unit.Oral contraceptive dispensing and basic family planning instructions — provide to patients following established clinical protocols under close oversight.Electronic medical software and patient record systems — enter, retrieve, and organize patient data accurately in a supervised clinical environment.Fetal position identification and estimated fetal size — assess using external palpation techniques under direct preceptor observation in a prenatal clinic.Evidence-based clinical guidelines and professional literature — read and summarize to support patient care decisions under mentorship guidance.Intrapartum patient status changes — recognize and escalate promptly to supervising clinicians during monitored labor support rotations.
developing
Prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care across routine presentations — deliver with reduced oversight in a community birth center or hospital-based midwifery practice.Fetal development progression — monitor across successive prenatal visits by integrating heartbeat auscultation, fundal height measurements, and position assessment in an outpatient setting.Comprehensive patient health histories and physical condition records — document accurately and completely in electronic medical software within established clinical workflows.Intrauterine device insertion and cervical barrier fitting — perform competently using sterile technique in a family planning or women's health clinic with periodic peer review.Medications permitted under state regulations — prescribe appropriately for routine obstetric and gynecologic conditions while coordinating with collaborative physician partners.Individualized health care management plans — develop and implement for low-to-moderate-risk patients by integrating assessment findings and patient preferences in a midwifery-led practice.Diagnostic and laboratory test results — interpret and communicate findings to patients with clarity and appropriate clinical follow-up in a busy obstetric outpatient setting.Active listening and social perceptiveness — apply consistently during patient encounters to identify psychosocial factors affecting maternal or newborn health outcomes.Care coordination activities — manage across prenatal, birth, and postpartum phases by collaborating with nursing, neonatal, and social work teams in a hospital setting.Family planning counseling conversations — conduct with cultural sensitivity and evidence-based guidance for patients across diverse demographic backgrounds in a community health setting.
proficient
Full-scope prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, and newborn care — deliver autonomously for routine and moderately complex cases in a hospital or freestanding birth center.Fetal development anomalies and deviations from normal growth patterns — identify and manage through timely diagnostic escalation and collaborative consultation in a high-volume obstetric unit.Complex patient health records involving co-morbidities and high-risk factors — document, analyze, and synthesize to inform individualized care decisions in an integrated health system.Full range of family planning services including IUD insertion, oral contraceptive management, and barrier fitting — provide to patients with varied clinical histories in a comprehensive women's health practice.Pharmacological treatment regimens for obstetric and gynecologic conditions — prescribe and adjust within the full scope permitted by state regulation, applying clinical judgment to individual patient needs.Individualized care plans for high-risk or complex pregnancies — develop, implement, and revise based on evolving diagnostic findings and patient-centered goals in a multidisciplinary care setting.Advanced diagnostic laboratory tests including genetic screening, fetal surveillance, and maternal labs — order, interpret, and integrate into care management decisions across a diverse patient caseload.Non-routine clinical events such as labor dystocia, postpartum hemorrhage, or neonatal compromise — assess rapidly and manage or escalate with precision in a hospital labor and delivery unit.Clinical education sessions and procedure explanations — deliver to patients, family members, and junior staff in ways that build understanding and support informed consent across varied literacy levels.Systems analysis of care delivery gaps or workflow inefficiencies — conduct and recommend evidence-based improvements within a midwifery practice or maternal health department.
advanced
Midwifery practice standards and clinical protocols — author, implement, and evaluate at an organizational level to elevate safety and quality across a health system's maternal care continuum.Emerging evidence in prenatal, intrapartum, and neonatal care — synthesize and translate into updated institutional guidelines, leading policy adoption across multidisciplinary teams.Strategic family planning program development — design and oversee at scale, integrating service delivery models that address population health needs and health equity goals in a regional or system-wide context.Prescribing authority frameworks and scope-of-practice regulations — interpret, advocate for, and apply strategically to expand nurse midwifery capabilities within legal and institutional structures.Mentorship and clinical supervision of emerging and developing nurse midwives — lead systematically through structured preceptorship programs that build workforce competency across a practice or health system.Quality improvement and patient safety initiatives for maternal-newborn outcomes — lead cross-functional teams in designing, piloting, and measuring evidence-based interventions at the organizational level.Complex ethical, legal, and psychosocial cases in midwifery practice — resolve through principled decision-making frameworks that balance patient autonomy, clinical risk, and institutional accountability.Interdisciplinary collaboration with obstetrics, neonatology, social work, and public health — lead at an executive or program director level to integrate midwifery into comprehensive women's health service lines.Health data analytics and outcome metrics for midwifery-managed patient populations — oversee collection, analysis, and reporting using medical and spreadsheet software to drive strategic care improvements.Workforce development curricula, clinical education programs, and learning strategies for advanced midwifery practice — design and champion across academic-practice partnership settings to shape the next generation of practitioners.
Also known as
131 alternate job titles map to this occupation.
Medical Surgical Nurse (Army 66H)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Aeromedical Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4F)Clinical Nurse, Critical Care (Air Force 46N3E)Nurse-MidwifeAerospace Medical Service Journeyman, Aeromedical Education Technician (Air Force 4N051G)Family Nurse Practitioner (Army 66P)Clinical Nurse, Critical Care (Air Force 46N1E)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Family Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1H)Aerospace Medical Service Apprentice, Independent Duty Medical Technician (Air Force 4N031C)Critical Care Nursing (Army 66S)Aerospace Medical Service Helper, Neurodiagnostic Medical Technician (Air Force 4N011B)Aerospace Medical Service Helper, National Registry Paramedic (Air Force 4N011H)Clinical Specialist, Nursing (Navy 0925)Perioperative Nurse (Navy 0932)Mental Health Nurse (Air Force 46P4)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y1A)Dental Assistant Helper (Air Force 4Y011)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (Air Force 46Y4M)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4A)Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (Air Force 46Y4B)Army Public Health Nurse (Army 66B)Mental Health Nurse (Air Force 46PX)Dental Assistant Journeyman (Air Force 4Y051)Aerospace Medical Service Craftsman, National Registry Paramedic (Air Force 4N071H)Clinical Nurse, Emergency/Trauma (Air Force 46N4J)SC - Nurse Corps - General (Navy 290)Health Services Management Helper (Air Force 4A011)Emergency/Trauma Nurse (Navy 0906)Aerospace Medical Service Journeyman, Neurodiagnostic Medical Technician (Air Force 4N051B)Aerospace Medical Service Helper, Independent Duty Medical Technician (Air Force 4N011C)Aerospace Medical Service Apprentice, Aeromedical Education Technician (Air Force 4N031G)Aerospace Medical Service Craftsman, Aeromedical Education Technician (Air Force 4N071G)Health Services Management Journeyman (Air Force 4A051)Registered Nurse MidwifeClinical Nurse, Staff Development (Air Force 46N4D)Postpartum NurseProfessional Registered Nurse (Navy 0944)Mental Health Nurse (Air Force 46P1)Aerospace Medical Service Journeyman, Independent Duty Medical Technician (Air Force 4N051C)Dental Assistant Journeyman, Dental Hygienist (Air Force 4Y051H)