AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 29-1161.00
Will AI replace Nurse Midwives?
Nurse Midwives: AI can already handle 14 of 21 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 21 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Nurse Midwives, from most to least exposed. 14 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Explain procedures to patients, family members, staff members or others. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Initiate emergency interventions to stabilize patients. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Write information in medical records or provide narrative summaries to communicate patient information to other health care providers. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Provide primary health care, including pregnancy and childbirth, to women. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Instruct student nurse midwives, medical students, or residents on the birthing process. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Establish practice guidelines for specialty areas such as primary health care of women, care of the childbearing family, and newborn care. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Conduct clinical research on topics such as maternal or infant health care, contraceptive methods, breastfeeding, and gynecological care. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Manage newborn care during the first weeks of life. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Order and interpret diagnostic or laboratory tests. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Plan, provide, or evaluate educational programs for nursing staff, health care teams, or the community. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Educate patients and family members regarding prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, newborn, or interconception care. | Observed | Frontier | |
| Consult with or refer patients to appropriate specialists when conditions exceed the scope of practice or expertise. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Provide patients with direct family planning services, such as inserting intrauterine devices, dispensing oral contraceptives, and fitting cervical barriers, including cervical caps or diaphragms. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Develop and implement individualized plans for health care management. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in midwifery. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Prescribe medications as permitted by state regulations. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Document findings of physical examinations. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Perform physical examinations by taking vital signs, checking neurological reflexes, examining breasts, or performing pelvic examinations. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 21 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 20 of 21. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 71% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 85% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 15% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 7,920
- Median annual wage
- $134,040
- Middle half of earners
- $116,510 to $157,400
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +11.1%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Midwives 85% skill overlap, about 5 months to move Exposure41
- Nurse Practitioners 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure41
- Registered Nurses 63% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure36
- Nurse Anesthetists 61% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure47
- Obstetricians and Gynecologists 60% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure39
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Nurse Midwives and AI
Will AI replace Nurse Midwives?
AI already handles 14 of the 21 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 58 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +11.1% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Nurse Midwives?
58 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 1 of the 21 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 20 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Nurse Midwives tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients; Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information; Explain procedures to patients, family members, staff members or others. They are three of the 14 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 71% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Nurse Midwives, and what do they earn?
7,920 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $134,040 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +11.1% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Nurse Midwives. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/nurse-midwives
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