Will nurse midwives be replaced by AI?
Updated
Nurse midwives score 42 of 100 for AI exposure. The largest share of their task time, 54%, is work AI speeds up while they stay in charge. AI can take over 15% outright, and 31% stays with people.
- 15% AI can do it
- 54% AI helps
- 31% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Higher than 56% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 21 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 3 of them today, speeds up 12 and leaves 6 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Write information in medical records or provide narrative summaries to communicate patient information to other health care providers. Record writing and summaries are highly suited to AI drafting. | 75% AI can do it |
| Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information. Ambient scribes and AI can draft histories from notes. | 70% AI can do it |
| Document findings of physical examinations. Exam findings can be dictated and structured by AI. | 65% AI can do it |
| Educate patients and family members regarding prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, newborn, or interconception care. AI can produce tailored education materials and answer questions. | 55% AI helps |
| Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in midwifery. AI summarizes literature well; conferences and peer talk stay human. | 55% AI helps |
| Establish practice guidelines for specialty areas such as primary health care of women, care of the childbearing family, and newborn care. AI drafts protocols well; committee review and sign-off required. | 55% AI helps |
| Develop and implement individualized plans for health care management. AI drafts care plans quickly, clinician tailors and approves. | 50% AI helps |
| Plan, provide, or evaluate educational programs for nursing staff, health care teams, or the community. AI helps design curricula and materials; delivery stays human. | 50% AI helps |
| Order and interpret diagnostic or laboratory tests. AI flags and interprets labs; clinician orders and decides. | 45% AI helps |
| Conduct clinical research on topics such as maternal or infant health care, contraceptive methods, breastfeeding, and gynecological care. AI aids literature and analysis; patient enrollment stays human. | 45% AI helps |
Show the other 11 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Consult with or refer patients to appropriate specialists when conditions exceed the scope of practice or expertise. AI helps draft referrals; judgment on scope stays human. | 40% AI helps |
| Prescribe medications as permitted by state regulations. AI aids checks and drafts, but licensed prescriber signs. | 35% AI helps |
| Explain procedures to patients, family members, staff members or others. Explanations are live and interpersonal; AI drafts handouts. | 30% AI helps |
| Instruct student nurse midwives, medical students, or residents on the birthing process. Teaching happens bedside and in clinical settings. | 25% AI helps |
| Manage newborn care during the first weeks of life. Mix of hands-on newborn checks and remote follow-up coordination. | 25% AI helps |
| Provide primary health care, including pregnancy and childbirth, to women. Broad in-person primary care; little of it is digital. | 18% Needs a person |
| Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients. Mostly hands-on bedside care during pregnancy and birth. | 15% Needs a person |
| Provide patients with direct family planning services, such as inserting intrauterine devices, dispensing oral contraceptives, and fitting cervical barriers, including cervical caps or diaphragms. IUD insertion and diaphragm fitting are physical procedures. | 12% Needs a person |
| Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight. Doppler, palpation and measurement need hands on presence. | 8% Needs a person |
| Initiate emergency interventions to stabilize patients. Time critical hands-on stabilization in live emergencies. | 8% Needs a person |
| Perform physical examinations by taking vital signs, checking neurological reflexes, examining breasts, or performing pelvic examinations. Palpation, pelvic and breast exams require physical presence. | 5% Needs a person |
How nurse midwives compare
All occupations (923)
Healthcare practitioners and technical (89)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $134,040 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 7,920 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- +11.5% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Review AI-drafted charts in Epic Systems before signing
- Perform pelvic, breast and vital sign exams in person
- Insert IUDs and fit diaphragms in clinic
- Run Doppler fetal heart checks and fundal height measurement
- Hold the AMCB certified nurse-midwife credential
- Sign off on practice guidelines through committee review
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about nurse midwives and AI
Will AI replace nurse midwives?
Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly writing records and summarizing patient information for other providers, plus documenting histories and exam findings. What stays with people is hands-on birth care, emergency stabilization and the physical exams that need a person in the room.
Which tasks is AI taking over for nurse midwives?
Record writing leads the list with an exposure score of 75, since AI can draft narrative summaries that pass patient information to other providers. Health history documentation scores 70 and exam findings score 65, because ambient scribes and dictation tools can draft and structure them from notes. Most of the time saved shifts from typing toward reviewing what the tools produce.
Which tasks stay human for nurse midwives?
Physical exams score 5 on exposure, the lowest in the job, because palpation, pelvic and breast exams require physical presence. Fetal monitoring scores 8 since Doppler checks, palpation and measurement need hands on the patient. Emergency stabilization also scores 8, because time critical hands-on care happens during live emergencies.
How can nurse midwives stay valuable?
Check every AI-drafted chart in Epic Systems or eClinicalWorks before signing, since the signature carries your legal responsibility. Keep building skill in the hands-on work that scores lowest on exposure, such as Doppler checks, IUD insertion and diaphragm fitting. Take a lead role on practice guideline committees, where AI drafts protocols but committee review and sign-off stay with midwives. Keep the AMCB certification current.
Related jobs
Next steps for nurse midwives
Check which roles in your team AI can take on
We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first.
Related topics
- Jobs AI can't replaceCement masons score lowest, at 8.
- Jobs most at risk from AIProofreaders score highest, at 76.
- High-paying jobs with low AI exposureRadiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.
- Entry-level jobs with low AI exposureCement masons need little prior training and score 8.
- Jobs AI speeds up the mostFor natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.
- AI and jobs in Malta15 iGaming roles graded task by task.
- Skills that keep work humanThe skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.
- Jobs A to ZEvery job we publish, by first letter.
- AI exposure by industryAverage scores for 22 occupation groups.
- Write a CV screening software can readHow applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.
- AI for businessesThe tasks to automate first in each team and industry.
- How we score AI exposureThe grading, the weights and every source.