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Nurse Midwives

Diagnose and coordinate all aspects of the birthing process, either independently or as part of a healthcare team. May provide well-woman gynecological care. Must have specialized, graduate nursing education.

7,920 people do this job in the US. $134,040 a year.

now
32%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 52%
  • 4%
  • 44%
5%

Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.

Half the desk work within reach
Already

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 52% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 2030

What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .

At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.

How far this has come

With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 2%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 31%. Today's estimate: 32%.

0%10%20%30%40%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 0% within reacho1, December 2024: 1% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 2% within reacho3, April 2025: 13% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 17% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 23% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 23% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 25% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 26% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 31% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 32% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.

The tasks

Sorted by . 21 tasks from .

TaskKind
Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 17%1.3 h25 min to 6.7 hStays with people
Provide primary health care, including pregnancy and childbirth, to women.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 15%1.7 h38 min to 6.7 hStays with people
Conduct clinical research on topics such as maternal or infant health care, contraceptive methods, breastfeeding, and gynecological care.Done yearly or less by most who do it. 14%4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.5 work weeks0%Half by Apr 2029
Develop and implement individualized plans for health care management.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 7%38 min17 min to 1.7 h98%Half by now
Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 5%25 min13 min to 50 min100%Half by now
Perform physical examinations by taking vital signs, checking neurological reflexes, examining breasts, or performing pelvic examinations.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 5%25 min13 min to 50 minStays with people
Educate patients and family members regarding prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, newborn, or interconception care.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 5%25 min13 min to 50 min100%Half by now
Order and interpret diagnostic or laboratory tests.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 4%21 min8 min to 42 min100%Half by now
Provide patients with direct family planning services, such as inserting intrauterine devices, dispensing oral contraceptives, and fitting cervical barriers, including cervical caps or diaphragms.Done several times a day by most who do it. 4%38 min17 min to 1.3 hStays with people
Establish practice guidelines for specialty areas such as primary health care of women, care of the childbearing family, and newborn care.Done more than yearly by most who do it. 3%6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days9%Half by Jul 2027
Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.Done hourly or more by most who do it. 3%17 min8 min to 38 minStays with people
Instruct student nurse midwives, medical students, or residents on the birthing process.Done more than weekly by most who do it. 3%1.3 h25 min to 3.3 hStays with people

Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.

Jobs that share skills with this one

From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

Where this job works

The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).

Where the most of these jobs are

The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).