This will vary depending on what you would like to specialize in and how much time you want to spend in school. Options include:


Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) - A LPN program is 1 ½ years long. LPNs can become certified and licensed through community colleges or vocational schools. However, many LPNs are not used in a labor and delivery setting due to the specialty area that it is. Most LPNs are utilized in an office outside the hospital or medical surgical floor, rather than an ICU setting, Labor and Delivery, or pediatrics.Registered Nurse (RN) - The average registered nurse program is 2-4 years long, as it requires a bachelor's degree and 2 or 3 years of additional education. The RN’s role as a labor and delivery nurse can range depending on the hospital setting you work in. They can specialize in a wide variety of roles, including labor and delivery, antepartum, and postpartum care.Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) - A CNS is a master's degree program. A CSN is an advanced practice nurse, a Master’s degree program, that may prescribe medication and do other duties as a physician. Therefore, a CNS in labor and delivery may specialize in the management clinically of the woman during pregnancy and labor and delivery. The CNS is also a great resource for nurses on the division, specializing in education.
Nurse Practitioner (NP) - A NP is a master's degree program. Nurse practitioners do specialize in neonatal care and are utilized in NICU and normal newborn nurseries. They usually help to triage patients and do not perform deliveries.
Certified Nurse Midwife (CNW) - A CNW is a master’s degree program. Midwives were the original nurse professionals in the labor and delivery world. Midwives are trained over a graduate level and are trained to support women in their pregnancy and labor and delivery. They are not able to do surgery on their patients, therefore, if a C-Section is needed or a vacuum or forceps assisted delivery, a physician will have to help them.
Most major labor delivery centers are not using LPNs in labor and delivery and instead are using RNs. At community hospitals, LPNs can sometimes get hired in that role, but still RNs are more common. There is a big difference between being a midwife and being a labor and delivery nurse, so you have to decide if you want to be the one managing the labor and performing the delivery, or if you want to be supporting the laboring mom. Assuming you have the right degrees, it is possible for you to fulfill multiple roles.;
, Each nursing program has specific hours you will need to graduate, which are built into your nursing program. In addition to classroom learning, you will have to take hands-on courses, also known as clinicals. You will go through a short period of clinical experience in labor and delivery and postpartum care. This gives you a view into the world of a labor nurse to see if it is something you would be interested in pursuing.


However, this experience will not give you thorough training like you will get once you are on the job. , The variety of nursing jobs in the maternity ward vary from an antepartum nurse, triage nurse, labor nurse, delivery nurse, scrub nurse, circulating nurse (in the operating room), postpartum nurse, lactation nurse, and newborn nurse.


Start by contacting your local hospital’s volunteer program. The director can help guide you on a shadowing experience. This can be done during nursing school to see if it is a hospital you would like to work in.
Maternity wards are not the same everywhere. Touring and volunteering your time can be a great way to see if you feel like you would fit in at that particular facility.
 You will need to visit the website of the state board of nursing in your specific state to see the qualifications for each test.Before you begin a specialty in maternity nursing, you must be a licensed nurse.


Each state regulates its own license application procedure.
Becoming a midwife requires a Master’s degree in nursing and passing the midwifery certification.For all types of maternity nursing you need to enroll and pass a nursing program and apply to take and pass the NCLEX (the exam for licensure) before applying for a job.
The nursing licensing test is a combination of high comprehension questions to make you critically think about everything you learned in nursing school.
Decide what kind of nursing degree you would like to pursue.
Train for general nursing during your degree program.
Learn the specifics of maternity nursing by working in a hospital maternity ward or obstetric practice, or by observing a practicing midwife.
Get a nursing license in your state or region.
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