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Nurse Midwife

$134,040
median / year
$93,620 – $188,320
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Provide prenatal care, deliver babies, and support women's health across the life span.

You may also see this posted as: Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM), Staff Certified Nurse Midwife, Staff Nurse Midwife.

Where you work

Hospitals, birth centers, and clinics

The hours

On-call, irregular hours common

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.
  • Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.
  • 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.
  • Prescribe medications as permitted by state regulations.

Good fit if you like…

Social

helping, teaching, caring for, or supporting other people

Investigative

solving problems, analyzing evidence, and figuring out how things work

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

O*NET job zone 5 of 5

Extensive preparation—often graduate education and significant experience—is common.

Work styles that matter most

EmpathyAttention to DetailDependabilityCautiousness

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

eClinicalWorks EHR softwareEpic SystemsMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareAcrendo Medical Software Ob/Gyn EMRAllscripts Professional EHR

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$134,040
per year
Hourly median
$64.44
per hour
What most earn
$93,620–$188,320
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~500
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+11.1%
Much faster than average
Working in the U.S.
7,920
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 1% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

Master's degree

Training path: Master's degree + CNM cert.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: None.

License or certification

Requires an RN background, a graduate degree, an APRN license, and national CNM certification.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

Prenatal careDeliveryPatient educationCalm under pressure

The honest take

Delivers babies and provides women's health care, a role built on a nursing career plus graduate study.

Standard Occupational Classification 29-1161. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; job context from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.