Prenatal Nurse, Prenatal Nursing Schools, Training, Education, Jobs, and Careers

What is a Prenatal Nurse?
If you love helping mothers-to-be through the different stages of pregnancy, then perhaps you would love becoming a prenatal nurse. Another name for this type of nurse is also called a nurse-midwife. This nurse also assists in labor and delivery and caring for the mother-to be during the pre-natal as well as the post-partum stages.

The other duties are:

• Being a health care practitioner for women
• Give regular physical checkups
• Give gynecological exams
• Teach family planning sessions for women

How to Become a Prenatal Nurse:
First, you must be a graduate of an accredited high school or obtain your GED. With the demands for better educated and more skilled nurses, students now tend to go to an accredited nursing school where she will earn a certificate, or associate degree, or BSN. If a nurse in prenatal care wishes to have her own practice, then she will need to either get a master's degree and then a doctorate degree.

Here are some of the courses that a nurse-midwife will have to take. Some of these prenatal courses will vary from state to state and from program to program:

• Anatomy
• Biochemistry
• Epidemiology
• Genetics and Embryology
• Integration
• Antepartum, Intrapartum/Postpartum
• Breastfeeding
• Family Planning
• Health Research
• Laboratory Medicine
• OB Complications
• Neonatology
• Primary Care of Women
• Pharmacology Principles
• Obstetrics and Pathophysiology of Gynecology
• Professional Issues

After you have completed all the prerequisites for becoming a nurse, now you must take the test for precertification to become a Prenatal Nurse. Exams will differ for different countries, but for the U.S. women desiring to become a Prenatal Nurse can check with the American Midwifery Certification Board.

Due to the nature of being a nurse in prenatal care, you have the chance to obtain a job in a variety of environments. You can work either in a hospital or in an OB-GYN clinic. However, you have no restriction as to working in only these kinds of environments.

Yes, it is good to practice your trade in hospitals and clinics because these are excellent places to be learning and perfecting your craft. However, you can also search for other institutions that may require your services, such as colleges and universities, country clubs, working in doctors' offices, church organizations, making rounds to homes and even working within the government. If you decide that you want to work outside of the clinical environment, this will require that you be much more personable toward your clients.

Nurse-Midwife Salary:
Salary ranges will also vary based on your education, experience, training and location for either the client or the employer. Compensation for nurses in prenatal care can average anywhere from $80,000 to $90,000 based on education and experience.

Prenatal Nursing School:
There are quite a few places on can pursue a program in prenatal care. As always, we have a place for you. You need to visit the advanced nursing degree website. Follow this link to go there now. While there, request for the free information.

Return from Prenatal Nurse to Medical Assistants Schools and Careers