Massachusetts Certified Nurse-Midwife license renewal and CE requirements
Massachusetts nurse-midwives must complete 15 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing.
Massachusetts does not issue a standalone nurse midwife license. The Board of Registration in Nursing grants an advanced practice registered nurse authorization as a certified nurse midwife on top of a Massachusetts registered nurse license, and the two renew together in one transaction. The board states that a registered nurse license and the APRN authorization expire at 11:59 p.m. on the licensee's birthday in even numbered years, so the cycle is two years keyed to the birth date. Renewal opens 90 days before expiration and is completed online through the Health Professions Licensing System; the board no longer prints or mails paper licenses. A nurse may not practice with an expired license. To renew the APRN authorization the nurse must hold a current Massachusetts registered nurse license and hold current certification from a board recognized national professional organization; a nurse who does not intend to renew the authorization must file a request to remove APRN authorization before renewing, because the fee is not refundable once paid. An expired APRN authorization does not affect the registered nurse license. All APRNs, expressly including certified nurse midwives, must also enroll with MassHealth as a participating or nonbilling provider.
Summary
Massachusetts nurse-midwives must complete 15 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. Massachusetts does not issue a standalone nurse midwife license. The Board of Registration in Nursing grants an advanced practice registered nurse authorization as a certified nurse midwife on top of a Massachusetts registered nurse license, and the two renew together in one transaction. The board states that a registered nurse license and the APRN authorization expire at 11:59 p.m. on the licensee's birthday in even numbered years, so the cycle is two years keyed to the birth date. Renewal opens 90 days before expiration and is completed online through the Health Professions Licensing System; the board no longer prints or mails paper licenses. A nurse may not practice with an expired license. To renew the APRN authorization the nurse must hold a current Massachusetts registered nurse license and hold current certification from a board recognized national professional organization; a nurse who does not intend to renew the authorization must file a request to remove APRN authorization before renewing, because the fee is not refundable once paid. An expired APRN authorization does not affect the registered nurse license. All APRNs, expressly including certified nurse midwives, must also enroll with MassHealth as a participating or nonbilling provider. Massachusetts also mandates specific subjects. Training and education on the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia: a one-time requirement (registered nurses who serve adult populations, which reaches a certified nurse midwife through the registered nurse license the authorization sits on). Prescriber training in effective pain management, opioid misuse and addiction risk, and safe prescribing: required every renewal cycle (only a certified nurse midwife who engages in prescriptive practice. M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e) writes it for practitioners who prescribe controlled substances, and 244 CMR 4.05 makes it a condition of renewing the CNM authorization only where prescriptive practice applies). Domestic and sexual violence training (Chapter 260): required (nurses licensed by the Board of Registration in Nursing, alongside professionals licensed by six other Massachusetts health and human services boards); the board does not state how often. Hours do not carry over between cycles and the first renewal is exempt.
Massachusetts 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 | Tied to the licensee's birth date |
| Continuing education required | Yes |
| Hours per cycle | 15 contact hours |
| Self-study or online cap | No cap stated |
| Carryover to next cycle | No |
| First renewal exempt | Yes |
| Other accepted activities | Academic or college courses that are part of a curriculum relevant to nursing or leading to a nursing degree, credited at 15 contact hours per semester credit; Planned, supervised clinical experiences, credited at 1 contact hour per 100 minutes of clinical instruction; Home study courses; Web based programs; Lectures and workshops; Refresher programs and programs offering CME, AMA or other professionally recognized credit; Initial certification in ACLS or PALS, but not recertification |
Massachusetts adds no separate hour total for the nurse midwife authorization. 244 CMR 4.05 sets out what a certified nurse midwife must show to renew the authorization, and it is a list of conditions rather than hours: a valid Massachusetts registered nurse license in good standing, good moral character, current CNM certification from a board recognized APRN certifying organization, the fee, and completion of the prescriber training in M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e) if the nurse midwife engages in prescriptive practice. The hour figure comes from the registered nurse license the authorization rides on: M.G.L. c. 112 section 74 states that the minimum number of continuing education hours for renewal of a registered nurse's certificate of registration shall not be less than fifteen, and the board states that all licensed nurses must complete 15 contact hours within the 2 years before renewal. Nurse midwife continuing education is therefore neither stacked on nor parallel to the registered nurse requirement; there is one 15 hour requirement, held at the registered nurse level. The board states plainly that no continuing education is required for a nurse's first renewal. Only hours earned in the 2 years before the renewal date count, so hours do not carry over. A contact hour is 60 minutes; the board notes that one continuing education unit equals 10 contact hours and one semester college credit equals 15 contact hours, but the state counts in contact hours. CPR courses may not be counted, ACLS and PALS may be counted at initial certification but not recertification, and employer in-services are not accepted. The board adds that a nurse certified by an outside professional organization may have additional continuing education obligations to that organization which are separate from the board's; that is where the American Midwifery Certification Board Certificate Maintenance Program sits, and its totals are deliberately not recorded here. AMCB certification is a condition of holding the authorization, not a substitute for the state hours: the board states that every APRN must maintain current certification through a board approved national certifying organization, and that a lapse ends the authorization to practice as an APRN.
Required CE topics for Massachusetts 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training and education on the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer's disease and dementiaA one time course. The statute says continuing education requirements for renewal of a registered nurse's certificate of registration shall include the one time completion of this training, and scopes it to registered nurses who serve adult populations. The board states that there is no prescribed course and no prescribed number of hours, that training received in an academic nursing program, staff development, conferences, seminars or continuing education at any time satisfies it, and that licensees applying to renew had to complete it by November 7, 2022. Applicants for initial licensure have owed it since November 7, 2018. Hours is null because neither the statute nor the board states a count. | Not stated | One time | Registered nurses who serve adult populations, which reaches a certified nurse midwife through the registered nurse license the authorization sits on | M.G.L. c. 112 section 74; chapter 220 of the acts of 2018 |
| Prescriber training in effective pain management, opioid misuse and addiction risk, and safe prescribingRequired as a prerequisite to obtaining or renewing the professional license for practitioners who prescribe controlled substances, veterinarians excepted. Content covers effective pain management including non-opioid alternatives and their advantages and disadvantages, the risks of misuse and addiction with opioid medications, identifying patients at risk for substance misuse, counseling patients on side effects, risks, storage and disposal, appropriate prescription quantities for medications with an increased risk of misuse, and opioid antagonists and overdose prevention. The statute leaves the standards to each board and states no hour count, so hours is null. 244 CMR 4.07(5) adds that at initial application for a Massachusetts Controlled Substance Registration and during each APRN authorization renewal period the APRN must comply with all state and federal continuing education requirements. The board's renewal page lists the prescriber training among the items a renewing nurse attests to. | Not stated | Every renewal | Only a certified nurse midwife who engages in prescriptive practice. M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e) writes it for practitioners who prescribe controlled substances, and 244 CMR 4.05 makes it a condition of renewing the CNM authorization only where prescriptive practice applies | M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e); 244 CMR 4.05; 244 CMR 4.07(5) |
| Domestic and sexual violence training (Chapter 260)The statute directs the Board of Registration in Nursing, along with the boards of registration in medicine, physician assistants, nursing home administrators, social workers, psychologists and allied mental health and human services professions, to develop and administer licensure standards that include training on the symptoms of domestic and sexual violence, the effects on victims and on child witnesses, the challenges facing vulnerable populations, available support services, and offender psychology. The board's own mandatory continuing education page carries a Domestic and Sexual Violence Training (Chapter 260) section and points licensees to the Chapter 260 training site. Neither the statute nor the board page read states an hour count or says whether the training recurs, so hours is null and frequency is recorded as unknown rather than guessed. | Not stated | Frequency not stated | Nurses licensed by the Board of Registration in Nursing, alongside professionals licensed by six other Massachusetts health and human services boards | M.G.L. c. 112 section 264 |
Documentation and audit
| Proof submitted at renewal | No, attestation only |
|---|---|
| Keep records for | 4 years |
| Board audits compliance | Yes |
| Approved providers | The board does not maintain a list of approved continuing education programs and states that it is the licensee's responsibility to select a program meeting the regulatory requirements in 244 CMR 5.00. In general, programs approved by a professional review process or by another jurisdiction's board of nursing satisfy the requirement, but the licensee must confirm the program contains everything the board requires. The board publishes a checklist for nurses to use in judging a program. Nothing is submitted with the renewal application: the nurse attests under penalties of perjury to compliance, and the board may request verification at any time. A nurse selected for audit or named in a complaint may be required to send two cycles of certificates, and must keep an authenticated record of completed programs for the two most recent consecutive registration periods, which is four years. |
Common questions
- How many CE hours does a Massachusetts CNM need to renew?
- Massachusetts nurse-midwives must complete 15 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. Massachusetts adds no separate hour total for the nurse midwife authorization. 244 CMR 4.05 sets out what a certified nurse midwife must show to renew the authorization, and it is a list of conditions rather than hours: a valid Massachusetts registered nurse license in good standing, good moral character, current CNM certification from a board recognized APRN certifying organization, the fee, and completion of the prescriber training in M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e) if the nurse midwife engages in prescriptive practice. The hour figure comes from the registered nurse license the authorization rides on: M.G.L. c. 112 section 74 states that the minimum number of continuing education hours for renewal of a registered nurse's certificate of registration shall not be less than fifteen, and the board states that all licensed nurses must complete 15 contact hours within the 2 years before renewal. Nurse midwife continuing education is therefore neither stacked on nor parallel to the registered nurse requirement; there is one 15 hour requirement, held at the registered nurse level. The board states plainly that no continuing education is required for a nurse's first renewal. Only hours earned in the 2 years before the renewal date count, so hours do not carry over. A contact hour is 60 minutes; the board notes that one continuing education unit equals 10 contact hours and one semester college credit equals 15 contact hours, but the state counts in contact hours. CPR courses may not be counted, ACLS and PALS may be counted at initial certification but not recertification, and employer in-services are not accepted. The board adds that a nurse certified by an outside professional organization may have additional continuing education obligations to that organization which are separate from the board's; that is where the American Midwifery Certification Board Certificate Maintenance Program sits, and its totals are deliberately not recorded here. AMCB certification is a condition of holding the authorization, not a substitute for the state hours: the board states that every APRN must maintain current certification through a board approved national certifying organization, and that a lapse ends the authorization to practice as an APRN.
- How often does a Massachusetts CNM license need to be renewed?
- Certified Nurse-Midwife licenses in Massachusetts renew every two years. Massachusetts does not issue a standalone nurse midwife license. The Board of Registration in Nursing grants an advanced practice registered nurse authorization as a certified nurse midwife on top of a Massachusetts registered nurse license, and the two renew together in one transaction. The board states that a registered nurse license and the APRN authorization expire at 11:59 p.m. on the licensee's birthday in even numbered years, so the cycle is two years keyed to the birth date. Renewal opens 90 days before expiration and is completed online through the Health Professions Licensing System; the board no longer prints or mails paper licenses. A nurse may not practice with an expired license. To renew the APRN authorization the nurse must hold a current Massachusetts registered nurse license and hold current certification from a board recognized national professional organization; a nurse who does not intend to renew the authorization must file a request to remove APRN authorization before renewing, because the fee is not refundable once paid. An expired APRN authorization does not affect the registered nurse license. All APRNs, expressly including certified nurse midwives, must also enroll with MassHealth as a participating or nonbilling provider.
- What specific CE topics are required for Massachusetts nurse-midwives?
- Training and education on the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia: a one-time requirement (registered nurses who serve adult populations, which reaches a certified nurse midwife through the registered nurse license the authorization sits on). Prescriber training in effective pain management, opioid misuse and addiction risk, and safe prescribing: required every renewal cycle (only a certified nurse midwife who engages in prescriptive practice. M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e) writes it for practitioners who prescribe controlled substances, and 244 CMR 4.05 makes it a condition of renewing the CNM authorization only where prescriptive practice applies). Domestic and sexual violence training (Chapter 260): required (nurses licensed by the Board of Registration in Nursing, alongside professionals licensed by six other Massachusetts health and human services boards); the board does not state how often. Citations: training and education on the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with cognitive impairments, including Alzheimer's disease and dementia (M.G.L. c. 112 section 74; chapter 220 of the acts of 2018), prescriber training in effective pain management, opioid misuse and addiction risk, and safe prescribing (M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e); 244 CMR 4.05; 244 CMR 4.07(5)), and domestic and sexual violence training (Chapter 260) (M.G.L. c. 112 section 264).
- Do Massachusetts nurse-midwives have to submit CE certificates at renewal?
- Licensees attest to completion at renewal rather than submitting certificates, the board audits a sample of renewals and asks for documentation, and records must be kept for 4 years. The board does not maintain a list of approved continuing education programs and states that it is the licensee's responsibility to select a program meeting the regulatory requirements in 244 CMR 5.00. In general, programs approved by a professional review process or by another jurisdiction's board of nursing satisfy the requirement, but the licensee must confirm the program contains everything the board requires. The board publishes a checklist for nurses to use in judging a program. Nothing is submitted with the renewal application: the nurse attests under penalties of perjury to compliance, and the board may request verification at any time. A nurse selected for audit or named in a complaint may be required to send two cycles of certificates, and must keep an authenticated record of completed programs for the two most recent consecutive registration periods, which is four years.
- Is the first Massachusetts CNM renewal exempt from CE?
- Yes. Massachusetts 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.
- 244 CMR 4.05, authorization and renewal of authorization for advanced practice registered nurses, including the certified nurse midwife requirementsThird-party summary, accessed September 10, 2026
- 244 CMR 4.07, prescriptive practice for advanced practice registered nurses including certified nurse midwivesThird-party summary, accessed September 10, 2026
- 244 CMR 5.02, continuing education, 15 hours within the two years before renewalThird-party summary, accessed September 10, 2026
- M.G.L. c. 112 section 74, nurse registration, biennial renewal on the birthday, minimum fifteen continuing education hours, one time cognitive impairment trainingStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- M.G.L. c. 112 section 80B, authorization of nurses in advanced practice roles including certified nurse midwivesStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- M.G.L. c. 112 section 264, domestic violence and sexual violence training standards for licensureStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- M.G.L. c. 94C section 18(e), prescriber training on pain management and opioid risksStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
- Mandatory Continuing Education for nurses, Massachusetts Board of Registration in NursingState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- Renew your nursing license, Massachusetts Board of Registration in NursingState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- Board of Registration in Nursing, MassachusettsState board page, accessed September 10, 2026
- About the Chapter 260 training for licensed professionals in MassachusettsThird-party summary, accessed September 10, 2026
Massachusetts follows the common pattern: the Board of Registration in Nursing authorizes the certified nurse midwife as an advanced practice registered nurse, with no medical board sign off on the credential itself. That the rules read govern the nurse midwife rather than another kind of midwife was established from the text: 244 CMR 4.05 conditions the CNM authorization and its renewal on valid Massachusetts registered nurse licensure in good standing, and M.G.L. c. 112 section 80B names certified nurse midwives among the nurses in advanced roles the board authorizes. Massachusetts separately created a Board of Registration in Midwifery for certified professional midwives, who are not nurses, under M.G.L. c. 13 section 110 and c. 112 sections 290 to 297; nothing from that board was used here, and certified nurse midwives remain with the Board of Registration in Nursing. AMCB certification is a renewal condition rather than a source of hours. The board requires every APRN to hold current certification from a board recognized national certifying organization to keep the authorization, and separately warns that an outside certifying organization may impose its own continuing education, which is not the board's requirement. Continuing education is held entirely at the registered nurse level at 15 contact hours per two year cycle, which matches the state's registered nurse, nurse practitioner and nurse anesthetist records. Three subject mandates were checked for scope. The cognitive impairment and dementia training is written for registered nurses who serve adult populations, so it reaches a nurse midwife through the registered nurse license. The prescriber training is scoped to practitioners who prescribe controlled substances, so it is recorded with a conditional applies_to rather than applied to every nurse midwife. The Chapter 260 domestic and sexual violence training is written for the nursing board among six others, but neither the statute nor the board page states hours or frequency, so those are left null and unknown. Source handling: www.mass.gov returns HTTP 403 to every automated fetch client, so the three mass.gov pages were read as rendered HTML in a browser rather than fetched, and nothing was downloaded; the 244 CMR text is cited from the Cornell Legal Information Institute mirror and typed as third_party_summary because the official regulation copies on mass.gov are published as PDF and DOCX files that the no download rule excludes. The values that carry this record's confidence, the 15 hour total, the two year birthday cycle, the first renewal exemption, the four year retention and the APRN certification condition, were all read on the board's own pages and in the General Laws on malegislature.gov, both official hosts.
Provided for general reference. Requirements change through legislative sessions and rulemaking, so confirm with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing before relying on them for a renewal. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.