Nurse-Midwife Careers: Education, Jobs, Salaries, Skills

A nurse midwife is an advanced practice registered nurse certified to provide medical services and support to women of varying ages and newborn babies in their first month of life. To become a nurse-midwife, you’ll need to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing and start working as a general midwife. At that point, you can qualify for a postgraduate diploma programme. You can start as a nurse practitioner midwife after registration with the Indian Nursing Council.

Nurse practitioner midwives should be compassionate, patient, good listeners, and knowledgeable in the care and needs of women and newborn babies. Read on to learn more about the role and its qualifications to decide if it’s the proper career path for you. 

What exactly is a nurse practitioner midwife?

A nurse practitioner midwife (NPM), also called a certified midwife, is an advanced practice registered nurse who provides comprehensive medical and holistic care and emotional support to pregnant and postpartum mothers to help ensure women have a healthy, safe pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum period. A nurse-midwife conducts physical examinations of a mother and baby at prenatal appointments, attends the birth, and administers afterbirth medical care and support. A nurse-midwife may also provide primary care for premenopausal and menopausal women and gynaecological preventive care services to women of childbearing age and beyond. 

What does a nurse midwife do daily?

A nurse-midwife's daily duties and responsibilities may vary depending on where they work. If an expectant mother is in labour, you will attend that birth to deliver the baby and provide any necessary aftercare support.

On days with no births to attend, you may hold office hours meeting with your patients or visit with patients in an OB-GYN clinic or birthing centre. As a nurse-midwife, your patients may include women of childbearing age, pregnant women, postpartum women, or women going through menopause and beyond. 

It’s a common misconception that nurse-midwives only attend and assist in natural labour births. Nurse-midwives are certified to work with newborn babies and women of childbearing age through postmenopause. A nurse-midwife can offer primary gynaecological care to all women of all ages. This scope of care may include performing preventative services like pap smears, conducting diagnostic STD testing, or treating various gynaecological problems that may occur at any age in a woman’s lifetime.

A few daily duties of a nurse-midwife may consist of:

• Educating women on child-birthing options and helping create birth plans

• Offering emotional support to pregnant mothers as needed

• Monitoring the health of pregnant women and foetuses

• Diagnosing and treating pregnancy conditions

• Prescribing medication when needed

• Offering nutritional counselling, lifestyle suggestions, supplements and vitamins, and other means of holistic care

• Helping women deliver babies naturally, without technological or medical interventions

• Offering postpartum support for mother and baby, which may involve in-home visits or scheduled postpartum appointments

• Providing newborn care for babies in their first month of life

Steps to becoming a nurse-midwife

To become a nurse-midwife, you must become a registered nurse first. Nurse-midwives are advanced practice registered nurses, meaning you need additional licensure and certification after becoming a registered nurse.

Research undergraduate degrees in nursing. 

The first step to becoming an NPM is to earn a bachelor’s of science in nursing. Enrolling in a nursing programme that fits your schedule, budget, and future career goals as a nurse-midwife is essential. To qualify for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSc) programme, you’ll need to earn 50 percent on your 12th board exams. You can choose from entrance exams such as JIPMER, NEET, BHU UET, or the AUAT to apply. 

Get registered and gain experience.

The next step to becoming an NPM is to complete your certification in general nursing midwifery and register with the State Nurses Registration Council. After completing this step, you can begin working as a midwife and gain professional experience to qualify for a nurse practitioner midwife postgraduate diploma.  

Complete your education.

After earning a bachelor’s degree, registering as a general nurse midwife, and gaining work experience, you must complete a postgraduate diploma programme for NPMs. Once you have finished this programme, you can register with the India Nursing Council and begin working as a nurse practitioner midwife. You will need two years of experience in labour and delivery or a related field.

Where do nurse practitioner midwives work?

Nurse practitioner midwives work with women of varying ages, most often with women of childbearing age and their babies. They typically work in healthcare settings where women seek primary gynaecological or prenatal care. Some nurse-midwives may work independently, owning their practice.

A few examples of where a nurse-midwife may work are:

• Public, private, university, and military hospitals offering gynaecological care, prenatal care, and more

• HMOs, private practices, and birth centres delivering babies and offering pre and postnatal care

• Public health clinics

• In a woman’s home offering birthing and afterbirth care and support 

How much does an NPM make?

According to Ambition Box, a nurse practitioner makes an average annual salary of ₹3.8 Lakhs in India [1]. A range you might expect in this field is ₹1.4 Lakhs to ₹45 Lakhs. 

Alternative jobs working with babies and children

If you want to pursue a job in healthcare working with babies and children, you can consider a few other roles besides becoming a nurse practitioner midwife. Explore careers as a general midwife, labour and delivery nurse, or paediatrician. 

General midwife

Average annual salary in India (Ambition Box): ₹2.7 Lakhs [2]

As a general midwife, you will perform many similar roles to a nurse practitioner midwife in a practice working underneath a nurse practitioner midwife. In this role, you will gain experience providing prenatal and postnatal care to mothers and babies before qualifying for your postgraduate course to become an NPM. 

Labour and delivery nurse

Average annual salary in India (Glassdoor): ₹3.8 Lakhs [1]

As a labour and delivery nurse, you will be a nurse practitioner caring for patients who need prenatal and postnatal care, including for high-risk, preterm, or caesarean births. You will work with other medical professionals to assess mother and child, assist patients and physicians during long births, and provide care in other ways to both newborn babies and mothers. 

Paediatrician

Average annual salary in India (Glassdoor): ₹15 Lakhs [3]

As a paediatrician, you will provide healthcare services for children and young adults. You will provide daily patient care, including diagnosing conditions, recommending treatments, and referring to specialists when needed. You may also continue your education and specialise in paediatric medicine, such as becoming a paediatric surgeon or paediatric oncology. 

Get started with nurse-midwife careers with Coursera 

Careers in nursing can offer a lot of mobility as you can move into various nursing roles through additional certifications, training, education, and years of experience. If you want to work in nursing, and possibly as a nurse-midwife, consider why you want to be a nurse and where you want to work.

The University of Minnesota’s Integrative Nursing Specialisation provides both practising nurses and nursing students the foundation to employ evidence-based integrative therapies in their professional practice. 

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