Midwives
Provide prenatal care and childbirth assistance.
Also known as: APC (Advanced Practice Clinician), APP (Advanced Practice Provider), Birth Center Midwife, Birth Doula, Certified Direct-Entry Midwife, Certified Midwife, Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), Direct-Entry Midwife, ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (About average)
What You'd Do
- Assist maternal patients to find physical positions that will facilitate childbirth.
- Monitor maternal condition during labor by checking vital signs, monitoring uterine contractions, or performing physical examinations.
- Provide comfort and relaxation measures for mothers in labor through interventions such as massage, breathing techniques, hydrotherapy, or music.
- Set up or monitor the administration of oxygen or medications.
- Assess birthing environments to ensure cleanliness, safety, and the availability of appropriate supplies.
- Assess the status of post-date pregnancies to determine treatments and interventions.
- Collect specimens for use in laboratory tests.
- Conduct ongoing prenatal health assessments, tracking changes in physical and emotional health.
- Develop, implement, or evaluate individualized plans for midwifery care.
- Establish and follow emergency or contingency plans for mothers and newborns.
- Estimate patients' due dates and re-evaluate as necessary based on examination results.
- Evaluate patients' laboratory and medical records, requesting assistance from other practitioners when necessary.
- Respond to breech birth presentations by applying methods such as exercises or external version.
- Identify, monitor, or treat pregnancy-related problems such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, pre-term labor, or retarded fetal growth.
- Identify tubal and ectopic pregnancies and refer patients for treatments.
- Inform patients of how to prepare and supply birth sites.
- Monitor fetal growth and well-being through heartbeat detection, body measurement, and palpation.
- Maintain documentation of all patients' contacts, reviewing and updating records as necessary.
- Obtain complete health and medical histories from patients including medical, surgical, reproductive, or mental health histories.
- Perform post-partum health assessments of mothers and babies at regular intervals.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
Software and tools commonly used in this role
In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
Physical and social factors that influence the nature of work
Related Careers
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.