Will AI replace Nurse Midwives?

Diagnose and coordinate all aspects of the birthing process, either independently or as part of a healthcare team. The percentage shown is a task-exposure model, not a prediction of certain job loss.

O*NET 30.3 · 29-1161.00 · modeled exposure, not guaranteed job loss
LOW TASK EXPOSURE
8%
Estimated share of representative tasks exposed to current AI capabilities.
Task automation share
8%Automatable
Automatable8%
Augmentable51%
Hard to automate41%
Based on analysis of representative responsibilities and current AI capability maturity.
Category#
Healthcare
Clinical & Care
Modeled pay midpoint$
$76,100/yr
Directional estimate — verify locally
Time until impact
6–10+ years
Earliest 2032 · widespread 2036+
Task-level replaceability
Representative tasks ranked from highest to lowest AI exposure.
Clinical accountability and hands-on care31%
Patient trust and complex diagnosis27%
Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.18%
Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.12%
Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information.12%
Impact timeline
How AI assistance may move from early support to wider adoption.
2032Next2036+
Light supportAI provides limited help with provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients..
AugmentationTools improve productivity without owning outcomes.
Human-ledCore work stays anchored in clinical accountability and hands-on care.
6–10+ yearsdirectional confidence window
HOW AI CHANGES THIS JOBtyping the logic in plain English
01>Start with the real work done by Nurse Midwives.
02>AI can help with: Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.
03>If a task is repetitive and easy to check, AI pressure goes up.
04>But a person is still needed for: Clinical accountability and hands-on care.
05>Likely result: AI mostly acts as a helper while the core job stays human-led.
06>Important: 8% is estimated task exposure—not a 8% chance of losing the job.
What AI can do
Provide prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, or newborn care to patients.LOW MATCH
Monitor fetal development by listening to fetal heartbeat, taking external uterine measurements, identifying fetal position, or estimating fetal size and weight.LOW MATCH
Document patients' health histories, symptoms, physical conditions, or other diagnostic information.LOW MATCH
How estimates work →
Your human moat

Clinical accountability and hands-on care

HIGH MOAT

Combined with patient trust and complex diagnosis, this keeps a human in the loop.

Strength9.5
Similar-role comparison
RoleRisk
Nurse Midwives8%
Registered Nurses8%
Genetic Counselors8%
Nurse Anesthetists8%
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Why this score?

The model evaluates 3 representative core tasks.
The core work depends on presence, dexterity, or accountability.
Occupation and task language comes from O*NET 30.3.
The strongest human advantage is clinical accountability and hands-on care.
Research basis

O*NET 30.3 occupation tasks plus the ILO 2025 exposure framework. Scores are directional estimates.

Read ILO research →
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