Nurse-Midwifery

Important Notice to Applicants

The Nurse-Midwifery specialty in the BSN Entry to DNP pathway is no longer accepting new students for the academic year 2024-2025. The specialty is currently being redesigned and intends to resume admissions in the near future. Please check back on this webpage.

Overview

Despite the most advanced medical technology in the world, the United States has higher rates of maternal and infant mortality compared to many countries that use midwifery as their primary model of care. Studies have indicated that midwife-attended births have lower cesarean birth rates, higher breastfeeding rates and lower NICU admission rates.

Nurse-midwives provide primary care to childbearing individuals in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings including hospitals, homes and birth centers. They provide care that is informed by a core beliefs in patient autonomy and the importance of supporting physiologic processes, including birth.

Graduates of our nurse-midwifery specialty are also eligible to sit the national board examination to be certified as a women's health nurse practitioner (WHNP). [Note: Beginning Fall 2023, the WHNP dual specialty will no longer be offered. The specialty will be nurse-midwifery only.] A WHNP is a registered nurse who has completed advanced education with a focus on the primary health care needs of women across the life cycle, with emphasis on conditions unique to women from menarche through the remainder of their lives. The specialty is dedicated to increasing service to vulnerable and underserved individuals and families. We adhere to the philosophy of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), but our unique specialty values are captured by the specialty's own mission, philosophy, purpose and objectives, which we encourage all applicants to review prior to applying.

In addition, please see the following details about the nurse-midwifery specialty:

  1. Clinical rotations are throughout the greater Bay Area and may not be accessible by public transportation; access to a car is necessary.
  2. The final quarter of this program is a full-scope, 10-week clinical rotation. Many members of the class will be assigned to an integration site away from the Bay Area. This involves separation from family and community members, as well as extra expense. The extra expense can be communicated with Student Financial Aid in determination of your student budget that quarter.
  3. Many of our clinical care sites have high numbers of monolingual Spanish-speaking patients. Spanish-language skills will make a difference in patient care and your learning experience; we strongly encourage strong Spanish-language ability.
  4. Our intrapartum clinical rotations include mandatory nights and weekends (e.g. L&D), and are mostly in the hospital setting.
  5. It is part of the role of nurse-midwives to provide comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. Our program includes required competencies in abortion and contraception, and there may or may not be optional rotations in abortion care.

Watch a Virtual Information Session

Learn more about the Nurse-Midwifery Specialty, BSN Entry to the DNP — Advanced Nursing Focus pathway. Watch a recording of a recent virtual information session.

Certifications and Licenses

Students who complete this specialty are eligible for the following certifications:

Nurse-Midwife

  • California Board of Registered Nursing, Nurse-Midwife certificate
  • California Board of Registered Nursing, Nurse-Midwife Furnishing certificate
  • National Board certification by American Midwifery Certification Board as a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)

Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (for cohorts entering no later than fall 2022)* 

  • California Board of Registered Nursing, Nurse Practitioner certificate
  • California Board of Registered Nursing, Nurse Practitioner Furnishing certificate
  • National Board certification by the National Certification as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP-BC)

*Note: Beginning fall 2023, the WHNP dual specialty will no longer be offered. The specialty will be nurse-midwifery only.

View the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) exam passage rates as well as the graduation rates for this specialty.

Curriculum

Current students can visit the Master of Science program's Collaborative Learning Environment site to access the curriculum (MyAccess credentials required).

For individuals applying for admission for fall 2024, the sample curriculum for the BSN Entry to DNP — Advanced Nursing Focus pathway can be viewed on our Curriculum webpage

Accreditation

The Nurse-Midwifery specialty at UCSF is fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), 2000 Duke St., Suite 300, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; For information about accreditation, please contact ACME directly by calling 703-835-4565 or by email at [email protected], www.theacme.org.

Faculty

Amber Bell, MS, RN, CNM, assistant professor - Specialty Coordinator
Kim Q. Dau, MS, RN, CNM, professor - Specialty Coordinator
Ifeyinwa Asiodu, PhD, RN, associate professor
Cynthia Belew, MS, RN, CNM, professor
Vanessa Evers, NP, CNM, assistant professor
Deena Mallareddy, MS, RN, CNM, professor
Andrea Zengion, MS, ND, CNM, assistant professor

Contact Us

Specialty Coordinator: Amber Bell
[email protected]