Qualifications Needed to Become a Midwife

Video Transcript

"Hello my name is Michelle Collins and I'm a certified nurse midwife and professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and I'm here today to talk to you about the qualifications necessary to become a midwife. Midwives come from all kinds of backgrounds. As of 2006 over 10,000 individuals have been certified as certified nurse midwives in this country and over 60 certified midwives have been certified in the country to practice. Some midwives come from a nursing background and are registered nurses prior to becoming midwives but that isn't a requirement for the profession. If you're planning on looking at midwifery as a career and you're in school now a good thing to do would be to concentrate on the sciences, the social sciences as well as the general sciences, microbiology, anatomy, physiology, chemistry, those things will serve you well in school as you're learning to become a midwife. Probably the most important qualification for somebody who wants to become either a certified midwife or a certified nurse midwife is that their interest lies in helping women and serving them. That's going to be the most important qualification that will serve you well during your career as a midwife."