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How hard is the education to be a midwife?
Like what is the education and is it as hard as bing a nurse? #nurse
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Tonya’s Answer
The education to become a midwife can be hard/challenge because a person is studying to provide independent (and at times in collaboration) safe and high-quality care to a person who is pregnant and across a person’s life cycle of healthcare, the baby (before and after birth), and supporting the family. At the same time, when someone is passionate about being a midwife, the aspect of a challenge is relative. And, because something is a challenge, one can be inspired to work hard to achieve their goal to become a midwife and seek a social support system through the hard/challenging times. Do not be fearful of a challenge.
To give you a little background on midwives, there are certified nurse midwives (which I am one), midwives, and lay midwives. I have included links to midwifery websites where you can learn more about each title.
The certified nurse midwife has achieved a degree in nursing first and then achieves the higher education and certification to become a midwife.
The education for a midwife can include courses such as anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, process of birth, newborn care (including neonatal resuscitation), women’s health, community/population health, psychology, and more. And, during school the midwife would have clinical experiences working with healthcare providers who are already caring for patients and people in the community.
Yes, being a midwife has different challenges than a nurse. For example, as a certified nurse midwife we can write prescriptions for medications. The responsibility of writing prescriptions cannot be taken likely. One should know the chemistry of how the medication works in the body, assessment of which medication is correct for which patient, the side effects, how much to prescribe, when the medication is causing harm, long term effects on patients (including the baby who is not born yet), interactions of medications and more. Yes, nurses need to know this information as well. However, the responsibility of prescribing is on the midwife. Additional challenges include when outcomes are not as expected and the impact on the family and midwife.
Midwife means with woman and is an advanced role beyond a nurse. The profession is more than patient care and includes advocacy for patient rights, community service, and educating the present and future generations of midwives and healthcare providers. I am glad you asked your question and hope the information inspires you and other future midwives.
References:
*American College of Nurse Midwives (2021). Home. https://www.midwife.org/
**American College of Nurse-Midwives. Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice (2020)
https://www.midwife.org/acnm/files/acnmlibrarydata/uploadfilename/000000000050/ACNMCoreCompetenciesMar2020_final.pdf
*Midwives Alliance North America (2021). Home.
https://mana.org/about-midwives/what-is-a-midwife
To give you a little background on midwives, there are certified nurse midwives (which I am one), midwives, and lay midwives. I have included links to midwifery websites where you can learn more about each title.
The certified nurse midwife has achieved a degree in nursing first and then achieves the higher education and certification to become a midwife.
The education for a midwife can include courses such as anatomy and physiology, biology, chemistry, process of birth, newborn care (including neonatal resuscitation), women’s health, community/population health, psychology, and more. And, during school the midwife would have clinical experiences working with healthcare providers who are already caring for patients and people in the community.
Yes, being a midwife has different challenges than a nurse. For example, as a certified nurse midwife we can write prescriptions for medications. The responsibility of writing prescriptions cannot be taken likely. One should know the chemistry of how the medication works in the body, assessment of which medication is correct for which patient, the side effects, how much to prescribe, when the medication is causing harm, long term effects on patients (including the baby who is not born yet), interactions of medications and more. Yes, nurses need to know this information as well. However, the responsibility of prescribing is on the midwife. Additional challenges include when outcomes are not as expected and the impact on the family and midwife.
Midwife means with woman and is an advanced role beyond a nurse. The profession is more than patient care and includes advocacy for patient rights, community service, and educating the present and future generations of midwives and healthcare providers. I am glad you asked your question and hope the information inspires you and other future midwives.
References:
*American College of Nurse Midwives (2021). Home. https://www.midwife.org/
**American College of Nurse-Midwives. Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice (2020)
https://www.midwife.org/acnm/files/acnmlibrarydata/uploadfilename/000000000050/ACNMCoreCompetenciesMar2020_final.pdf
*Midwives Alliance North America (2021). Home.
https://mana.org/about-midwives/what-is-a-midwife
Updated
maniya’s Answer
To become a nurse midwife, you need to complete BSN first, gain experience then earn a Master’s or Doctoral Degree in Nurse-Midwifery. Last step is to get certified as nurse midwife.