Both WHNP and certified nurse midwives (CNM) are advanced practice nurses with specialized roles for women, but they have unique focuses in terms of scope of practice.
Women’s health nurse practitioners specialize in providing primary health care to women across the lifespan, while nurse midwives are more focused strictly on the pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Midwives may deliver babies, but WHNP cannot.
Each has their own unique certification and educational requirements, as well as differences in salary potential.
Learn more about the primary differences between a WHNP and certified nurse midwife.
Learn more about the major differences between WHNP and CNM
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics 2023 / Occupational Outlook Handbook 2022. BLS estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geography market in which you want to work and degree field, will affect career outcomes and earnings. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the average salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, salary increase or other career growth.