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

What is a certified nurse midwife and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A certified nurse-midwife (CNM) is a health care professional who provides health and wellness services to mothers who are expecting. These individuals do more than just deliver babies; they also offer family planning, prenatal care, and gynecological exams.

A certified nurse midwife helps women in labor and monitors the health of both the mother and baby during delivery. They are highly-trained health professionals who are responsible for the care and well-being of mothers and their newborns.

Most certified nurse midwives have a bachelor's degree in nursing, advanced training, and certification in midwifery, prenatal and postnatal care, as well as a state license to practice as a CNM. CNM's also are required to take the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) Nurse-Midwifery/Midwifery examination to earn certification. Most CNMs can make up to $115,000 per year, and the field is expected to grow 12% in the next 10 years.

ScoreCertified Nurse MidwifeUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $108,954

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 40%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.32%

Asian 6.33%

Black or African American 4.66%

Hispanic or Latino 6.65%

Unknown 4.50%

White 77.54%

Gender

female 94.01%

male 5.99%

Age - 41

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 - 41

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.0

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a certified nurse midwife

Explore certified nurse midwife education requirements

Most common certified nurse midwife degrees

Master's

41.3 %

Bachelor's

37.9 %

Associate

10.9 %

Start to develop specific certified nurse midwife skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	20.43%
Nurse-Midwife	17.13%
CNM	13.14%
Patient Care	7.24%
OB-GYN	6.20%

Complete relevant certified nurse midwife training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New certified 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 certified nurse midwife based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real certified nurse midwife resumes.

Research certified nurse midwife duties and responsibilities

Manage pap smear results using the most up-to-date ACOG guidelines including HPV testing, colposcopy, biopsy and ECC as indicated.
Manage clinic personnel who supervise graduate clinical students and provide emergency midwifery clinical coverage to staff as necessary.
Maintain clinical privileges at an academic institution managing patients in a high acuity setting in concert with maternal fetal medicine specialists.
Participate in CQI/chart reviews, revise midwifery patient education system, assist with monthly scheduling of CNM's.

Prepare your certified nurse midwife resume

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

Build a professional certified 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 certified nurse midwife resume.