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Nurse Midwives

SOC 29-1161.00Job Zone 5 · Extensive Preparationv.26.05

Context coveredThis framework covers nurse midwifery practice across prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, newborn, and family planning care settings, from supervised entry-level clinical roles through organizational leadership in hospital, birth center, and community health environments.

Sources:O*NET v30.2O*NET Resource Center — Occupational Information Network, v30.2 (Sept 2025). Opens in new tab.SkillsCrosswalkSkillsCrosswalk — O*NET enrichment + adjacency index. Opens in new tab.
Emerging
Entry / Apprentice
  1. Prenatal patient health histories and symptom documentation — collect and record under clinical supervision in a hospital or birth center setting.
  2. Fetal heartbeat and uterine measurements — monitor and report findings to supervising midwife or physician during routine prenatal visits.
  3. Diagnostic and laboratory test orders — submit and retrieve results under direct guidance of a preceptor in an outpatient obstetric clinic.
  4. Individualized care plans — contribute structured input to development activities under the direction of a senior nurse midwife.
  5. Clinical procedures and examination steps — explain clearly to patients and family members using approved protocols in a supervised labor and delivery unit.
  6. Oral contraceptive dispensing and basic family planning instructions — provide to patients following established clinical protocols under close oversight.
  7. Electronic medical software and patient record systems — enter, retrieve, and organize patient data accurately in a supervised clinical environment.
  8. Fetal position identification and estimated fetal size — assess using external palpation techniques under direct preceptor observation in a prenatal clinic.
  9. Evidence-based clinical guidelines and professional literature — read and summarize to support patient care decisions under mentorship guidance.
  10. Intrapartum patient status changes — recognize and escalate promptly to supervising clinicians during monitored labor support rotations.
Developing
Mid-level / Established
  1. Prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care across routine presentations — deliver with reduced oversight in a community birth center or hospital-based midwifery practice.
  2. Fetal development progression — monitor across successive prenatal visits by integrating heartbeat auscultation, fundal height measurements, and position assessment in an outpatient setting.
  3. Comprehensive patient health histories and physical condition records — document accurately and completely in electronic medical software within established clinical workflows.
  4. Intrauterine device insertion and cervical barrier fitting — perform competently using sterile technique in a family planning or women's health clinic with periodic peer review.
  5. Medications permitted under state regulations — prescribe appropriately for routine obstetric and gynecologic conditions while coordinating with collaborative physician partners.
  6. Individualized health care management plans — develop and implement for low-to-moderate-risk patients by integrating assessment findings and patient preferences in a midwifery-led practice.
  7. Diagnostic and laboratory test results — interpret and communicate findings to patients with clarity and appropriate clinical follow-up in a busy obstetric outpatient setting.
  8. Active listening and social perceptiveness — apply consistently during patient encounters to identify psychosocial factors affecting maternal or newborn health outcomes.
  9. Care coordination activities — manage across prenatal, birth, and postpartum phases by collaborating with nursing, neonatal, and social work teams in a hospital setting.
  10. Family planning counseling conversations — conduct with cultural sensitivity and evidence-based guidance for patients across diverse demographic backgrounds in a community health setting.
Proficient
Senior / Expert IC
  1. Full-scope prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, and newborn care — deliver autonomously for routine and moderately complex cases in a hospital or freestanding birth center.
  2. Fetal development anomalies and deviations from normal growth patterns — identify and manage through timely diagnostic escalation and collaborative consultation in a high-volume obstetric unit.
  3. Complex patient health records involving co-morbidities and high-risk factors — document, analyze, and synthesize to inform individualized care decisions in an integrated health system.
  4. Full range of family planning services including IUD insertion, oral contraceptive management, and barrier fitting — provide to patients with varied clinical histories in a comprehensive women's health practice.
  5. Pharmacological treatment regimens for obstetric and gynecologic conditions — prescribe and adjust within the full scope permitted by state regulation, applying clinical judgment to individual patient needs.
  6. Individualized care plans for high-risk or complex pregnancies — develop, implement, and revise based on evolving diagnostic findings and patient-centered goals in a multidisciplinary care setting.
  7. Advanced diagnostic laboratory tests including genetic screening, fetal surveillance, and maternal labs — order, interpret, and integrate into care management decisions across a diverse patient caseload.
  8. Non-routine clinical events such as labor dystocia, postpartum hemorrhage, or neonatal compromise — assess rapidly and manage or escalate with precision in a hospital labor and delivery unit.
  9. Clinical education sessions and procedure explanations — deliver to patients, family members, and junior staff in ways that build understanding and support informed consent across varied literacy levels.
  10. Systems analysis of care delivery gaps or workflow inefficiencies — conduct and recommend evidence-based improvements within a midwifery practice or maternal health department.
Advanced
Lead / Principal / Executive
  1. Midwifery practice standards and clinical protocols — author, implement, and evaluate at an organizational level to elevate safety and quality across a health system's maternal care continuum.
  2. Emerging evidence in prenatal, intrapartum, and neonatal care — synthesize and translate into updated institutional guidelines, leading policy adoption across multidisciplinary teams.
  3. Strategic family planning program development — design and oversee at scale, integrating service delivery models that address population health needs and health equity goals in a regional or system-wide context.
  4. Prescribing authority frameworks and scope-of-practice regulations — interpret, advocate for, and apply strategically to expand nurse midwifery capabilities within legal and institutional structures.
  5. Mentorship and clinical supervision of emerging and developing nurse midwives — lead systematically through structured preceptorship programs that build workforce competency across a practice or health system.
  6. Quality improvement and patient safety initiatives for maternal-newborn outcomes — lead cross-functional teams in designing, piloting, and measuring evidence-based interventions at the organizational level.
  7. Complex ethical, legal, and psychosocial cases in midwifery practice — resolve through principled decision-making frameworks that balance patient autonomy, clinical risk, and institutional accountability.
  8. Interdisciplinary collaboration with obstetrics, neonatology, social work, and public health — lead at an executive or program director level to integrate midwifery into comprehensive women's health service lines.
  9. Health data analytics and outcome metrics for midwifery-managed patient populations — oversee collection, analysis, and reporting using medical and spreadsheet software to drive strategic care improvements.
  10. Workforce development curricula, clinical education programs, and learning strategies for advanced midwifery practice — design and champion across academic-practice partnership settings to shape the next generation of practitioners.

AI-at-Work Competency Framework

Sources:Anthropic Economic IndexAnthropic Economic Index — release_2026_03_24. Opens in new tab.Jadhav & Danve, 2026Skill Automation Feasibility Index — Jadhav & Danve, 2026 (arXiv:2604.06906). Opens in new tab.WEF Skills TaxonomyWEF Skills Taxonomy 2021 — Building a Common Language for Skills at Work. Opens in new tab.

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Sources:Pathsmith™ Durable SkillsPathsmith™ Durable Skills Framework — America Succeeds + CompTIA. Opens in new tab.O*NET v30.2O*NET Resource Center — Occupational Information Network, v30.2 (Sept 2025). Opens in new tab.
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Source anchors that ground each statement

Related titles
Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) · Direct-Entry Midwife · Nurse Midwife · Postpartum Nurse · Postpartum RN (Postpartum Registered Nurse) · Registered Nurse Midwife · Staff Certified Nurse Midwife · Staff Nurse Midwife
RAPIDS apprenticeships
—
O*NET skills
Active ListeningCritical ThinkingSocial PerceptivenessSpeakingActive LearningMonitoringReading ComprehensionCoordinationService OrientationComplex Problem SolvingWritingJudgment and Decision MakingInstructingLearning StrategiesSystems AnalysisTime ManagementSystems Evaluation
Knowledge domains
Medicine and DentistryPsychologyCustomer and Personal ServiceEnglish LanguageBiologySociology and AnthropologyTherapy and CounselingEducation and TrainingMathematicsLaw and Government
Abilities
Written ComprehensionProblem SensitivityOral ExpressionOral ComprehensionDeductive ReasoningInductive ReasoningWritten ExpressionNear VisionSpeech RecognitionSpeech Clarity
Work styles
EmpathyAttention to DetailDependabilityCautiousnessCooperationStress Tolerance
Technology
Medical softwareSpreadsheet softwareOffice suite software
Tasks · seed anchors for statements
  1. Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.
  2. Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.
  3. Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information.
  4. Provide patients with direct family planning services, such as inserting intrauterine devices, dispensing oral contraceptives, and fitting cervical barriers, including cervical caps or diaphragms.
  5. Prescribe medications as permitted by state regulations.
  6. Develop and implement individualized plans for health care management.
  7. Explain procedures to patients, family members, staff members or others.
  8. Order and interpret diagnostic or laboratory tests.
CIP education codes
51.3807

Sources: O*NET v30.2 (CC BY 4.0), SkillsCrosswalk.com, LER.me®, Anthropic Economic Index, SAFI (Jadhav & Danve, 2026), WEF Skills Taxonomy 2021, Pathsmith™ Durable Skills Framework. © 2026 EBSCOed.