Illinois Certified Nurse-Midwife license renewal and CE requirements
Illinois nurse-midwives must complete 80 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Board of Nursing.
Illinois does not issue a separate nurse-midwife license. A certified nurse midwife holds an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse license, one of the four APRN qualifications named in 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.10 alongside the certified nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist and clinical nurse specialist. Every APRN license, including an APRN granted full practice authority, expires on May 31 of each even-numbered year, and the license may be renewed during the month preceding the expiration date. The underlying registered professional nurse license must be renewed in order to renew the APRN license, and it expires on the same date. At renewal an APRN must attest to continued, current national certification in the specialty, which for a nurse-midwife means American Midwifery Certification Board certification; the only exception is an APRN who has continuously held an unencumbered Illinois license since 2001 and does not meet the educational requirements for national certification. Practice on an expired license is unlicensed practice of nursing.
Summary
Illinois nurse-midwives must complete 80 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Board of Nursing. Illinois does not issue a separate nurse-midwife license. A certified nurse midwife holds an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse license, one of the four APRN qualifications named in 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.10 alongside the certified nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist and clinical nurse specialist. Every APRN license, including an APRN granted full practice authority, expires on May 31 of each even-numbered year, and the license may be renewed during the month preceding the expiration date. The underlying registered professional nurse license must be renewed in order to renew the APRN license, and it expires on the same date. At renewal an APRN must attest to continued, current national certification in the specialty, which for a nurse-midwife means American Midwifery Certification Board certification; the only exception is an APRN who has continuously held an unencumbered Illinois license since 2001 and does not meet the educational requirements for national certification. Practice on an expired license is unlicensed practice of nursing. Illinois also mandates specific subjects. Pharmacotherapeutics: 20 contact hours every renewal cycle. Opioid prescribing or substance abuse education: 10 contact hours every renewal cycle. Implicit bias awareness training, with maternal health risk factor content for maternal health care providers: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle (every health care professional licensed under the Nurse Practice Act who has continuing education requirements. Since July 1, 2026 a licensee who reports to the Department that they provide maternal health care services, meaning prenatal or postnatal care, must take a version of the course that also covers maternal health risk factors.). Sexual harassment prevention training: required every renewal cycle (every licensee of the Department who is subject to a continuing education requirement). Cultural competency training: 1 contact hour on a periodic schedule set by the board (health care professionals licensed under the Nurse Practice Act who have continuing education requirements, for renewals occurring on or after January 1, 2025). Diagnosis, treatment and care of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias: 1 contact hour on a periodic schedule set by the board (only licensees who provide health care services to, and have direct patient interactions with, adult populations age 26 or older. A nurse-midwife whose practice is limited to patients under 26 is not covered.). Hours do not carry over between cycles and the first renewal is exempt.
Illinois Certified Nurse-Midwife renewal and continuing education rules
"Not stated" means the board's pages and rules we read do not address it. We do not fill in typical values.
| Renewal cycle | Two-year (24 months) |
|---|---|
| Renewal deadline | Same date for every licensee, 05/31 each cycle |
| Continuing education required | Yes |
| Hours per cycle | 80 contact hours |
| Live or interactive minimum | 50 contact hours |
| Self-study or online cap | No cap stated |
| Carryover to next cycle | No |
| First renewal exempt | Yes |
| Other accepted activities | Presentations in the APRN's clinical specialty made to other health professionals, at 5 CE hours per distinct non-repetitive 60 minute lecture; Evidence based practice or quality improvement projects; Authoring a paper or publishing an article, 10 CE hours; Authoring a book chapter or dissertation, or a research project completed during the prerenewal period, 20 CE hours; Preceptorship of an APRN student, 10 CE hours per student per academic semester or quarter, capped at 30 hours; Successful completion during the prerenewal period of a recertification examination in the APRN's area of specialty, 60 CE hours; Academic credit, at 15 contact hours per semester hour and 12.5 per quarter hour, excluding audited courses and general education credits; Skills certification courses, up to 5 hours total, of which up to 2 may be CPR and up to 3 may be BLS, ACLS or PALS certification or recertification; Independent study approved for CE credit, including home study programs and journal articles |
The advanced practice figure is 80 hours of approved continuing education in the APRN's specialty per two year renewal cycle, set by 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130(a)(1)(C). Illinois replaces rather than stacks: the rule states that completing those 80 hours satisfies the continuing education requirement for renewal of the registered professional nurse license, which on its own is 20 hours. An APRN holding more than one APRN license still completes 80 hours in total, not 80 per license. Inside the 80, a minimum of 50 hours must come from continuing education programs, and those 50 must include no less than 20 hours of pharmacotherapeutics, of which 10 hours must be opioid prescribing or substance abuse education. A maximum of 30 hours may come from presentations, evidence based practice or quality improvement projects, publications, research projects or preceptor hours. All continuing education must be completed in the 24 months preceding expiration of the license, so nothing carries forward. A renewal applicant is not required to comply with the continuing education requirements at the first renewal of an Illinois license. Nurses licensed in Illinois but living and practicing elsewhere still comply. Hours earned in another jurisdiction outside an approved sponsor need an individual program approval request and a $25 processing fee filed before the program or within 90 days before license expiration, with a $50 per hour late fee capped at $300 after that. Equivalencies are set in the rule: one contact hour is 60 minutes, one academic semester hour is 15 contact hours, one quarter hour is 12.5 contact hours, and one CME, CNE or AMA credit each equals one contact hour. The Division may waive the requirement for extreme hardship, determined case by case, on a request filed before the renewal date. American Midwifery Certification Board certification is required for licensure and attested at renewal, and passing a recertification examination in the specialty during the prerenewal period counts for 60 of the 80 hours, but AMCB's five year Certificate Maintenance Program totals are not substituted for the state figure.
Required CE topics for Illinois certified nurse-midwifes
State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.
| Topic | Hours | Frequency | Applies to | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PharmacotherapeuticsThe rule sets this for all advanced practice registered nurses and does not scope it to prescribers, so it reaches a certified nurse midwife. The 20 hours sit inside the minimum 50 hours that must come from continuing education programs rather than from the alternative activities. | 20 contact hours | Every renewal | All licensees | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130(a)(1)(C)(i) |
| Opioid prescribing or substance abuse educationTen of the 20 pharmacotherapeutics hours must be opioid prescribing or substance abuse education. This is not an extra 10 hours on top of the pharmacotherapeutics requirement, and like the pharmacotherapeutics requirement the nursing rule states it for all APRNs rather than only for prescribers. | 10 contact hours | Every renewal | All licensees | 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130(a)(1)(C)(i) |
| Implicit bias awareness training, with maternal health risk factor content for maternal health care providersThis is the requirement that bites hardest on a nurse-midwife. Section 2105-15.7(b) says that on and after July 1, 2026, for health care professionals who report that they provide maternal health care services, the one hour implicit bias course must include training in potential maternal health risk factors associated with childbearing individuals who are part of a marginalized racial or ethnic group with increased maternal mortality rates. Prenatal and postnatal care are both defined in the section, with postnatal care reaching 12 months after birth. The hour counts toward the 80, and implicit bias training taken to meet another state licensure, accreditation, certification or institutional requirement may be counted. Public Act 104-755, effective January 1, 2027, will additionally allow a course covering perimenopause and menopause to count toward this one hour requirement; that is a permissive expansion and does not change the obligation. Section 2105-375(d) exempts this requirement from the multi-cycle phase-in allowed for other mandated topics, so it must be completed as provided by law every renewal. | 1 contact hour | Every renewal | Every health care professional licensed under the Nurse Practice Act who has continuing education requirements. Since July 1, 2026 a licensee who reports to the Department that they provide maternal health care services, meaning prenatal or postnatal care, must take a version of the course that also covers maternal health risk factors. | 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.7; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.500 |
| Sexual harassment prevention trainingThe statute sets no hour count. It requires the training to be completed at a minimum before each renewal, and it may be provided by the licensee's employer, by the Department of Human Rights, or by any continuing education provider authorized under an Act the Department administers, in accordance with Section 2-109 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. Section 2105-375(d) exempts it from the multi-cycle phase-in, so it is due every renewal. The canonical topic list has no key for it, so a short descriptive key is used here, matching the other Illinois nursing records. | Not stated | Every renewal | Every licensee of the Department who is subject to a continuing education requirement | 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.5; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.400 |
| Cultural competency trainingOne hour of training in cultural competency, defined in the statute as a set of integrated attitudes, knowledge and skills that lets a health care professional or organization care effectively for patients from diverse cultures, groups and communities. The hour counts toward the 80. Frequency is periodic rather than every cycle because 20 ILCS 2105/2105-375 lets a licensee on a two year cycle complete all statutorily mandated topics across three renewal periods, or four if new mandated topics are added after January 1, 2025. | 1 contact hour | Periodic | Health care professionals licensed under the Nurse Practice Act who have continuing education requirements, for renewals occurring on or after January 1, 2025 | 20 ILCS 2105/2105-370; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.525 |
| Diagnosis, treatment and care of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementiasRequired for renewals occurring on or after January 1, 2023. The content must include assessment and diagnosis, effective communication strategies, and management and care planning. The hour counts toward the 80, and dementia training taken for another state licensure, accreditation, certification or institutional requirement may be counted. Under 20 ILCS 2105/2105-375(d-5) this one must be completed before the end of the licensee's first renewal period and thereafter on the multi-cycle schedule, which is why the frequency is periodic. | 1 contact hour | Periodic | Only licensees who provide health care services to, and have direct patient interactions with, adult populations age 26 or older. A nurse-midwife whose practice is limited to patients under 26 is not covered. | 20 ILCS 2105/2105-365; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.550 |
Documentation and audit
| Proof submitted at renewal | No, attestation only |
|---|---|
| Keep records for | Not stated |
| Board audits compliance | Yes |
| Approved providers | Hours must be earned by verified attendance at or participation in a program offered or sponsored by an approved continuing education sponsor, with independent study, academic credit, presentations, publications and skills certification courses handled under their own subsections. The rule's sponsor list names the American College of Nurse-Midwives specifically, along with approved providers of recognized certification bodies, any conference offering CME authorized by the Illinois Medical Practice Act, ANCC accredited or approved providers, the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing, AANP, NPACE, AANA and NBCRNA, NACNS, ANA-Illinois, the Illinois Nurses Association and its affiliates, providers approved by another state's board of nursing, Illinois approved nursing education programs, employers licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act or the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act, and accredited schools, colleges, universities and government agencies. A sponsor must issue a certificate of attendance showing the sponsor's name and approval number, the participant's name, the subject matter, the hours attended, the date and place, and the sponsor's signature, and must keep attendance records at least five years. The licensee certifies full compliance on the renewal application; certificates are produced only in the Division's random audit, and it is each renewal applicant's responsibility to retain or produce that evidence. |
Common questions
- How many CE hours does a Illinois CNM need to renew?
- Illinois nurse-midwives must complete 80 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Board of Nursing. The advanced practice figure is 80 hours of approved continuing education in the APRN's specialty per two year renewal cycle, set by 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130(a)(1)(C). Illinois replaces rather than stacks: the rule states that completing those 80 hours satisfies the continuing education requirement for renewal of the registered professional nurse license, which on its own is 20 hours. An APRN holding more than one APRN license still completes 80 hours in total, not 80 per license. Inside the 80, a minimum of 50 hours must come from continuing education programs, and those 50 must include no less than 20 hours of pharmacotherapeutics, of which 10 hours must be opioid prescribing or substance abuse education. A maximum of 30 hours may come from presentations, evidence based practice or quality improvement projects, publications, research projects or preceptor hours. All continuing education must be completed in the 24 months preceding expiration of the license, so nothing carries forward. A renewal applicant is not required to comply with the continuing education requirements at the first renewal of an Illinois license. Nurses licensed in Illinois but living and practicing elsewhere still comply. Hours earned in another jurisdiction outside an approved sponsor need an individual program approval request and a $25 processing fee filed before the program or within 90 days before license expiration, with a $50 per hour late fee capped at $300 after that. Equivalencies are set in the rule: one contact hour is 60 minutes, one academic semester hour is 15 contact hours, one quarter hour is 12.5 contact hours, and one CME, CNE or AMA credit each equals one contact hour. The Division may waive the requirement for extreme hardship, determined case by case, on a request filed before the renewal date. American Midwifery Certification Board certification is required for licensure and attested at renewal, and passing a recertification examination in the specialty during the prerenewal period counts for 60 of the 80 hours, but AMCB's five year Certificate Maintenance Program totals are not substituted for the state figure.
- How often does a Illinois CNM license need to be renewed?
- Certified Nurse-Midwife licenses in Illinois renew every two years. Illinois does not issue a separate nurse-midwife license. A certified nurse midwife holds an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse license, one of the four APRN qualifications named in 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.10 alongside the certified nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist and clinical nurse specialist. Every APRN license, including an APRN granted full practice authority, expires on May 31 of each even-numbered year, and the license may be renewed during the month preceding the expiration date. The underlying registered professional nurse license must be renewed in order to renew the APRN license, and it expires on the same date. At renewal an APRN must attest to continued, current national certification in the specialty, which for a nurse-midwife means American Midwifery Certification Board certification; the only exception is an APRN who has continuously held an unencumbered Illinois license since 2001 and does not meet the educational requirements for national certification. Practice on an expired license is unlicensed practice of nursing.
- What specific CE topics are required for Illinois nurse-midwives?
- Pharmacotherapeutics: 20 contact hours every renewal cycle. Opioid prescribing or substance abuse education: 10 contact hours every renewal cycle. Implicit bias awareness training, with maternal health risk factor content for maternal health care providers: 1 contact hour every renewal cycle (every health care professional licensed under the Nurse Practice Act who has continuing education requirements. Since July 1, 2026 a licensee who reports to the Department that they provide maternal health care services, meaning prenatal or postnatal care, must take a version of the course that also covers maternal health risk factors.). Sexual harassment prevention training: required every renewal cycle (every licensee of the Department who is subject to a continuing education requirement). Cultural competency training: 1 contact hour on a periodic schedule set by the board (health care professionals licensed under the Nurse Practice Act who have continuing education requirements, for renewals occurring on or after January 1, 2025). Diagnosis, treatment and care of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias: 1 contact hour on a periodic schedule set by the board (only licensees who provide health care services to, and have direct patient interactions with, adult populations age 26 or older. A nurse-midwife whose practice is limited to patients under 26 is not covered.). Citations: pharmacotherapeutics (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130(a)(1)(C)(i)), opioid prescribing or substance abuse education (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.130(a)(1)(C)(i)), implicit bias awareness training, with maternal health risk factor content for maternal health care providers (20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.7; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.500), sexual harassment prevention training (20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.5; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.400), cultural competency training (20 ILCS 2105/2105-370; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.525), and diagnosis, treatment and care of individuals with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (20 ILCS 2105/2105-365; 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1130.550).
- Do Illinois nurse-midwives have to submit CE certificates at renewal?
- Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates and the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation. Hours must be earned by verified attendance at or participation in a program offered or sponsored by an approved continuing education sponsor, with independent study, academic credit, presentations, publications and skills certification courses handled under their own subsections. The rule's sponsor list names the American College of Nurse-Midwives specifically, along with approved providers of recognized certification bodies, any conference offering CME authorized by the Illinois Medical Practice Act, ANCC accredited or approved providers, the Illinois Society for Advanced Practice Nursing, AANP, NPACE, AANA and NBCRNA, NACNS, ANA-Illinois, the Illinois Nurses Association and its affiliates, providers approved by another state's board of nursing, Illinois approved nursing education programs, employers licensed under the Hospital Licensing Act or the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act, and accredited schools, colleges, universities and government agencies. A sponsor must issue a certificate of attendance showing the sponsor's name and approval number, the participant's name, the subject matter, the hours attended, the date and place, and the sponsor's signature, and must keep attendance records at least five years. The licensee certifies full compliance on the renewal application; certificates are produced only in the Division's random audit, and it is each renewal applicant's responsibility to retain or produce that evidence.
- Is the first Illinois CNM renewal exempt from CE?
- Yes. Illinois does not require continuing education for a CNM's first renewal.
Sources
Last verified September 10, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.
- 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300, Nurse Practice Act rules (Sections 1300.10, 1300.40, 1300.130 and 1300.400)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.5, continuing education, sexual harassment prevention trainingStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.7, implicit bias awareness trainingStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- 20 ILCS 2105/2105-365, continuing education, Alzheimer's disease and other dementiasStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- 20 ILCS 2105/2105-370, continuing education, cultural competencyStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- 20 ILCS 2105/2105-375, limitation on specific statutorily mandated training requirementsStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- Nursing, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional RegulationState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- Licensed Certified Professional Midwife, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional RegulationState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
Illinois recognizes the certified nurse midwife as one of the four APRN qualifications. 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300.10 defines an advanced practice registered nurse as a person who has met the qualifications for a certified nurse midwife, certified nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist or clinical nurse specialist and has been licensed by the Division, and Section 1300.400(a)(2)(A) requires nurse midwife certification from the American Midwifery Certification Board, or another certification the Department approves. There is no separate state nurse-midwife license, and no separate hour count for the role: the 80 hour figure is the shared APRN figure. Establishing that the rule read governs nurse-midwives rather than other midwives was straightforward here because Illinois puts the two credentials in different Acts, under different boards, in different rule Parts. The nurse-midwife is licensed under the Nurse Practice Act, 225 ILCS 65, with rules in 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1300, regulated by the Board of Nursing. The Licensed Certified Professional Midwife is licensed under a separate Act, 225 ILCS 64, with its own Illinois Midwifery Board and its own rules in 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1345, and requires North American Registry of Midwives certification rather than AMCB certification. Only the nursing sources were used for every figure in this record. The genuinely nurse-midwife specific finding is in the implicit bias mandate. 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.7(b) has, since July 1, 2026, required a licensee who reports providing maternal health care services to take an implicit bias course that also covers maternal health risk factors for childbearing individuals in marginalized racial or ethnic groups with increased maternal mortality rates. That reaches essentially every practicing nurse-midwife and does not reach most other APRNs, and it does not appear in the existing il-np or il-crna records, which were built before that date took effect. The same section will be amended by Public Act 104-755 effective January 1, 2027 to let a perimenopause and menopause course count toward the one hour; because that only widens what qualifies rather than changing the obligation, no advisory is set. Effective dates were checked on every mandated topic: dementia applies to renewals on or after January 1, 2023, cultural competency to renewals on or after January 1, 2025, and the phase-in relief in 20 ILCS 2105/2105-375 reaches cultural competency and dementia but expressly does not reach implicit bias or sexual harassment prevention. AMCB certification is required rather than credited as hours: Section 1300.40(a) makes attestation of continued current national certification a renewal condition, with a narrow exception for an APRN continuously licensed since 2001 who cannot meet the educational requirements for certification. Passing a specialty recertification examination during the prerenewal period is separately worth 60 continuing education hours under Section 1300.130(b)(7)(B), so the certification exam is an accepted alternative for most but not all of the hours. Advanced practice continuing education replaces the registered nurse requirement rather than stacking on it: Section 1300.130(a)(1)(C) states that completing the 80 hours satisfies the RN renewal requirement. Nothing read contradicts the existing il-rn, il-np or il-crna records on cycle, date, hour total or the pharmacotherapeutics and opioid figures. The sexual_harassment_prevention key is outside the canonical topic list and is kept to match the other Illinois nursing records; its hour count is null because the statute sets none. Retention years is null because neither the rule nor the board states how long a licensee, as opposed to a sponsor, must keep records.
Provided for general reference. Requirements change through legislative sessions and rulemaking, so confirm with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Board of Nursing before relying on them for a renewal. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.