[Bambi147]

I am planning on attending college in the fall of 2005. I want to be a maternity nurse but I just want to get some things straight before I proceed onto college. First off, (this might sound dumb but I want to get it straight) I wanted to know if there are specific nurses for the maternity ward (maternity nurses) or are they considered mid-wifes. Second, I wanted to know what kind of degree I would need to become a maturnity nurse.....RN or BSM. And I wanted to know what the difference was between the 2 degrees. All help and advice will be appreciated. THANX!

[Debinsea]

Here in the US there are nurses who work specifically in Maternity. This are usually encompasses Antepartum (pregnant moms not yet in labor, usually with various problems with their pregnancy) Intrapartum (usually laboring patients) Postpartum (newly delivered patients and, in most places nowdays newborn care as well) and sometimes Newborn Nursery (usually well babies or babies needing just a bit of help) I have a 2 year ADN and have worked in L&D for 9 years. I worked for probably 1 year in Post Partum and Newborn Nursery, then advanced to L & D. My advice for you as a new nurse is to get a bit of experience in another field of nursing...like med surg...just to have that knowledge base for future reference. Then just look for a hospital that is willing to cross train you into L & D. It's a great field to be in...very rewarding...especially if you're a tummy rubber and enjoy helping people through the long hard process of labor. Good luck.