What Do Nurse Midwives Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Nurse Midwives diagnose and coordinate all aspects of the birthing process, either independently or as part of a healthcare team. May provide well-woman gynecological care. Must have specialized, graduate nursing education. They also monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.

Other tasks include:

• Initiate emergency interventions to stabilize patients.
• Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.
• Explain procedures to patients, family members, staff members or others.
• Develop and implement individualized plans for health care management.
• Order and interpret diagnostic or laboratory tests.
• Document findings of physical examinations.

We asked Nurse Midwives how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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74% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 82% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Nurse Midwives write information in medical records or provide narrative summaries to communicate patient information to other health care providers. They document patients’ health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information.

A typical day for a Nurse Midwive will also include:

• Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.
• Provide primary health care, including pregnancy and childbirth, to women.
• Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.
• Document findings of physical examinations.
• Educate patients and family members regarding prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, newborn, or interconception care.

We asked some Nurse Midwives a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	89% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	76% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	97% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	61% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	14% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	78% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Nurse Midwives also read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in midwifery. They may also manage newborn care during the first weeks of life.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Nurse Midwives Consult with or refer patients to appropriate specialists when conditions exceed the scope of practice or expertise. They might also Initiate emergency interventions to stabilize patients.

In addition, they Provide patients with direct family planning services, such as inserting intrauterine devices, dispensing oral contraceptives, and fitting cervical barriers, including cervical caps or diaphragms.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Establish practice guidelines for specialty areas such as primary health care of women, care of the childbearing family, and newborn care.

To some Nurse Midwives, it is also their responsibility to Plan, provide, or evaluate educational programs for nursing staff, health care teams, or the community.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Irregular work schedule that changes depending on weather conditions, customer demand or contract duration.

In a typical work week as a Nurse Midwive, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/healthcare/nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-and-nurse-practitioners.htm

http://www.midwife.org/

http://nursingworld.org/

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/