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

What is a perinatal nurse and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Sophia Thomas

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a perinatal nurse. For example, did you know that they make an average of $33.12 an hour? That's $68,889 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a perinatal nurse?

Sophia Thomas

President, American Association of Nurse Practitioners

Graduates should absolutely get involved by joining their state NP organization as well as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. State organizations provide opportunities for networking with colleagues and advocate for health policy issues that impact state-level practice. It is also important to join the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, which provides further opportunities for networking, continuing education, professional growth, and the latest information related to state and federal health policy issues impacting NPs and the patients we serve. AANP is the largest professional association for NPs in the world, and we advocate for all NPs on the state and national levels.

I recommend new NPs interview their prospective employers, not only to learn what is expected of the NP regarding the role, patient load, and clinic time, but also to learn about the work environment, professional expectations, the employers' understanding of the NP role, and opportunities for orientation and mentorship. They should inquire about compensation rates and standard benefits as well as additional compensation offered, such as license, certification, and DEA fees, as well as reimbursement for continuing education and any productivity incentives offered.

New NPs shouldn't limit themselves to being a clinician. They should get involved in health policy, research, and leadership opportunities. I always recommend that new NPs get a mentor, a seasoned NP who can facilitate continued professional growth in areas they want to focus on. The Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners have a formal mentorship program that I encourage all NPs to get involved in.

ScorePerinatal NurseUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $68,889

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.88%

Black or African American 11.81%

Hispanic or Latino 9.19%

Unknown 4.27%

White 65.41%

Gender

female 96.95%

male 3.05%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a perinatal nurse

Explore perinatal nurse education requirements

Most common perinatal nurse degrees

Bachelor's

52.4 %

Associate

24.8 %

Master's

12.4 %

Start to develop specific perinatal nurse skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	46.94%
Fetal	18.71%
Direct Patient Care	6.01%
Family Education	5.78%
Hypertension	4.15%

Complete relevant perinatal nurse training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New perinatal nurses 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 perinatal nurse based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real perinatal nurse resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed perinatal nurse usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed perinatal nurse in most of states. 43 states require perinatal nurses to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse (RN)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Registered
Colorado	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Registered Nurse

Research perinatal nurse duties and responsibilities

Manage surgical recovery patients including vascular, ENT, GI urological and neurological cases, coronary bypass surgery patients.
Perform and decipher NST's, CST's, BPP's, and AFI's.
Complete antepartum testing, including NST and BPP.
Skil in advance fetal monitoring.

Apply for perinatal nurse jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a perinatal nurse job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams