I'm 30 right now. With two babies at home. (2 and 13 weeks). I feel it is very important to me that I not begun schooling of any kind before my children are at the very least in school themselves.

I've encountered a few issues. I want to be a CPM. It fits my personal beliefs and challenges to change our health care system.

Problem one: I have little ones. I want to wait until they are older. So At the earliest I'd be 40 before I began school.

Problem two: CPM's aren't recognized in my state. I'd have to leave. And I'd have to leave anyway because the MEAC school I want to attend is in Washington State. ANd that means uprooting my children out of their middle school.

If I wait until they're 18 I'll be 48 years old Student midwife.

Is that too late realistically?

*UPDATE*** I can't thank all of you enough for the encouragement and inspiration. This thread was worth it to me. Thank you for your posts.

It is never too late, just depends how bad you want to be one. I am almost 40 myself and have had alot of people say how I would make a great midwife... But when I think of the long hours, being on call, and things like that I am actually not interested at this stage of my life. Maybe if I was younger I may have considered it, but there are many other areas that I can be happy in with out the grueling schedule. If staying with your children is a priority for you right now all you can do is see how you feel when the time comes. When I was in nursing school I had a couple of friends who were in their 50's making career changes. So it definately can be done, it will just be all up to you and how you feel at the time.

Well, I'm 36 and a student midwife, and I'm uprooting my family and moving from PA to WY in January It can be done

Please don't think you are too old. I am 38 and my youngest is 4. I AM going to be a midwife some day and my dream is to open a birth centre in my city. I know that I won't be able to even start my midwifery studies for a year or two, but I refuse to let this stop me. It took me so long to find my passion and I will not give it up just because of age.

Janeya

How's about med school starting at 40? That's me. I'm a senior getting my BS in Biology, and then on to Osteopathic Med School! You're NEVER too old to do what you were put here for.

My preceptor did not start apprenticing until she was a bit into her 50's. That said, I think it makes sense to get your feet wet and do what you can here and there in the meantime. Assist a midwife now and then, for example. Theres not reason you have to do nothing until your kids are older. Anyway, theres no guarantee the laws in your state wont be different in 10 years or that the school you want to go to will still be around or even that the CPM will still be around. What won;t change is midwifery itself - you might as well so what you can now.

There's no such thing as being too old to learn!

The midwife I initially worked for went to nursing school in her late 40s, worked as an L&D nurse for a year or so, got her Master's in midwifery, and then opened her own homebirth midwifery practice when she was 50! And she's a bloody brilliant midwife now!

Your children may be upset at the notion of moving away from what they're familiar to but they might not be! Don't start off the "we're moving" talk by saying how sad they'll be to leave friends behind or other negative aspects. Tell them the pro's! A bigger backyard or a pool or a nearby state park for camping or something of the like that will make them more optimistic for the future. Also let them know why it is you're moving; when I was in middle school I hated how patronizing adults were, they didn't realize that they didn't HAVE to sugar coat things just because of my age. Tell them about how mommy has the opportunity to follow her dream and do something she loves to do; tell them about how their current state has rules preventing her from helping other moms. Let them know that they can be a part of your dream by encouraging you to do you. It'll also be a good life lesson on taking chances (more like calculated risks but, whatevs) and following your dream!

You can do this!

Can you do anything educational in the meantime? Maybe teach childbirth classes, get trained as a doula, start reading/buying midwifery textbooks, attend a Midwifery Today conference..