Midwifery School in Louisiana - LA

The state of Louisiana allows the practice of both lay midwifery and certified nurse-midwifery. Louisiana notes a difference between “licensed midwifery,” sometimes called lay midwifery, which is the practice of health services in pregnancy and childbirth by someone who is neither a physician nor a nurse; and certified nurse-midwifery, which is the practice of midwifery by a person who has registered nurse plus specific midwifery training.

Regardless of which type of midwife you plan to become, you must take specific midwifery courses in Louisiana. Schools of midwifery are not present in the state, but are available online and throughout the United States. Education is similar for both kinds of midwives, with the exception that certified nurse-midwives first attend schooling for registered nurses, and then take post-graduate midwife programs. Licensed midwives attend midwifery schools and must take particular courses specified by the state, including biology, physiology, nutrition, anatomy, pregnancy and childbirth. Licensed midwives in Louisiana are only authorized to perform patient care services for low-risk pregnancies that have been designated as such by a physician. Certified nurse-midwives, on the other hand, do not have such restrictions in Louisiana and may attend at births. Certified nurse-midwives were present at 1542 births in Louisiana in 2004, representing 3.5% of all births in Louisiana for that year, per information provided by the Louisiana chapter of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM).