Pathways Forward

Curricula · Hands-On Healthcare · Albany & Linn County

Licensed Midwife: the Albany Path

A licensed midwife attends births at home and in birth centers. She is not a nurse; she trains by apprenticeship or at a midwifery school and earns the national CPM credential. It is self-employed work that a family can size to fit.

Ed. 2026–27Builds on the Albany Hands-On Healthcare core pathChecked 2026-09-26

Why this field is on the list · as of September 2026

$107,124Linn County living wage, one earner, three children
$5,000Assumed fee per birth (prenatal, birth and postpartum care)
$110,000Gross from 22 births a year

Income depends on caseload. BLS publishes no figure for licensed midwives. At an assumed $5,000 per birth, about 22 births a year reaches the three-child bar before business costs. Ask local midwives what they actually charge.

The schedule is the family’s. A midwife chooses how many clients to take, and is on call around their due dates.

Watch for: births attended before a high school diploma do not count toward the NARM requirements. Start the formal count after graduation.

01 · Two kinds of midwifeNurse or not

Licensed midwife (CPM)

Trained by apprenticeship or a midwifery school, certified by NARM and licensed by Oregon. Home and birth-center births.

Certified nurse-midwife (CNM)

An RN with a graduate midwifery degree. Mostly hospital births. See nursing.

Doula

Support in labor, no clinical care. A good first step and a way to see many births.

02 · The ladderApprenticeship to license

NARM counts only births attended after high school.

  1. CPR, neonatal resuscitation and doula training

    Adult CPR and the Neonatal Resuscitation Program, and a doula course.

  2. Observing births

    Attend births as a doula or assistant.

  3. Apprenticeship or school

    Either the NARM Portfolio Evaluation Process with a registered preceptor, or a MEAC-accredited school (several are distance programs with local clinical placements). At least two years, about 55 births in set roles, plus prenatal, newborn and postpartum exams. Usually 3–5 years.

  4. NARM exam and CPM

    A 300-question exam. Renew every three years.

  5. Oregon license

    Oregon licenses direct-entry midwives (midwives who are not nurses) through the Health Licensing Office. The license is built on the NARM Certified Professional Midwife credential, plus Oregon’s own requirements for births attended and emergency training. Confirm the current rule with the Health Licensing Office before choosing a preceptor or school.

03 · The incomeCaseload and pay

Births a yearGross at $5,000 eachAgainst the Linn County bars
8$40,000a second income
12$60,000a second income
20$100,000clears the two-child bar
30$150,000clears the three-child bar

Gross, before costs: insurance, supplies, travel, certification and a second attendant at births. The $5,000 fee is an assumption; ask local midwives.

For a parent at home

A small caseload (six to ten births a year) is skilled work that fits around a family, but on-call weeks need a backup plan for the children.

04 · The home-school yearsWhat to add to the core path

Grades 9–10

  • Everything in the shared core, with strong biology and anatomy
  • Neonatal and adult CPR

Grades 11–12

After high school

  • Apprenticeship or a MEAC school, then the NARM exam and the Oregon license

Tie to the Verification Track

A midwife checks the baby’s heart rate against her own count and chart, and knows the conditions that mean a transfer to the hospital. The Verification Track trains that habit.

05 · SourcesWhere these facts come from

Checked 2026-09-26