The Certified Nurse-Midwife/Certified Midwife Workforce and Factors Affecting Its Growth

In this article, about the certified nurse-midwife and certified midwife workforce, we describe education, credentialing, licensure, and regulation; the current workforce and their practice; and the historical context that led to a small midwifery workforce with limited integration into the health care system in the US. Finally, we outline multi-level barriers to growing the midwifery workforce and provide recommendations to overcome those barriers. Barriers include state-level and organization-level inconsistent and restrictive regulations that prevent midwives from being able to fill gaps in low-resourced and rural regions, the high cost of midwifery education, and unsustainable work-life balance coupled with low salaries.