Pennsylvania Certified Nurse-Midwife license renewal and CE requirements

Summary

Pennsylvania nurse-midwives must complete 30 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine. Pennsylvania does not license nurse-midwives through the Board of Nursing. The State Board of Medicine issues the nurse-midwife license under 49 Pa. Code Chapter 18, Subchapter A, and the licensee must separately hold a Pennsylvania registered nurse license. 49 Pa. Code 18.3(a) requires the nurse-midwife license to be registered biennially following the procedure in 49 Pa. Code 16.15, and 16.15(c) provides that registration for a biennium expires December 31 of every even-numbered year. The Board of Medicine emails renewal notices about 60 days before the expiration date and states on its renewal page that licenses expire December 31 of every even-numbered year. Failure to pay the biennial registration fee by the required time automatically puts the license in unregistered status, and a licensee who practices during a period when registration was not renewed owes five dollars for each month or part of a month past the renewal date and may face disciplinary proceedings. Pennsylvania also mandates specific subjects. Child abuse recognition and reporting: 2 contact hours every renewal cycle (every nurse-midwife, as a condition of biennial registration, not only prescribers). Pharmacology: 16 contact hours every renewal cycle (Nurse-midwives who hold prescriptive authority under the act). Pain management, the identification of addiction, or the practices of prescribing or dispensing opioids: 2 contact hours every renewal cycle (Nurse-midwives who have prescriptive authority and who hold a DEA registration, or who use the DEA registration number of another person or entity as permitted by law, to prescribe controlled substances in any manner). Organ and tissue donation and recovery process: a one-time requirement of 2 contact hours (attaches through the registered nurse license a Pennsylvania nurse-midwife must also hold. A registered nurse licensed before May 1, 2026 owes it one time within five years of licensure renewal; a nurse licensed or reactivated on or after May 1, 2026 owes it one time within five years of that licensure or reactivation). Advanced pharmacology coursework for the prescribing certificate, plus pain management and opioid prescribing education: a one-time requirement of 45 contact hours (Nurse-midwives applying to the Board for the certificate authorizing them to prescribe, dispense, order and administer drugs). Hours do not carry over between cycles.

Pennsylvania 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.

Pennsylvania neither stacks nor invents a separate nurse-midwife hour count. 49 Pa. Code 18.3(b) makes it a condition of biennial renewal of the nurse-midwife license that the nurse-midwife complete the continuing education requirement in section 12.1 of The Professional Nursing Law, 63 P.S. 222, which is the same requirement the registered nurse license carries. The figure that statute produces is 30 hours per biennial renewal period, stated in 49 Pa. Code 21.131(a). So the nurse-midwife's continuing education is the registered nurse requirement applied to the midwife license, not an additional layer on top of it. Three components sit inside or alongside the 30 hours and are recorded under mandatory topics: two hours of child abuse recognition and reporting, required both by 18.3(b) and by 16.15(c.1) as a condition of biennial registration with the Board of Medicine; 16 hours in pharmacology each biennium for a nurse-midwife who holds prescriptive authority; and two hours in pain management, the identification of addiction, or the practices of prescribing or dispensing opioids each biennium for a nurse-midwife with prescriptive authority who holds or uses a DEA registration. National certification is a renewal condition rather than a source of hours: 49 Pa. Code 18.2(4)(ii) states that to be eligible for renewal of a nurse-midwife license, the nurse-midwife shall maintain national certification available to the profession and recognized by the Board, and 18.1 identifies the recognized certifying bodies as the ACNM and the American Midwifery Certification Board. No AMCB Certificate Maintenance Program total is recorded, because the state sets its own hour count. Under 49 Pa. Code 21.131(f) continuing education hours may not be carried over from one biennial renewal period to the next, and under 21.131(b) an applicant for initial licensure is not required to meet the continuing education requirement on the first renewal immediately following licensure, except for the mandatory child abuse hours; that exemption is written in the Board of Nursing's rule for the registered nurse license and is not restated in the Board of Medicine's midwife rule, so exempt_first_renewal is left null here.

Required CE topics for Pennsylvania certified nurse-midwifes

State-specific subject mandates. Where a mandate applies only to some licensees, the scope is listed.

Documentation and audit

Common questions

How many CE hours does a Pennsylvania CNM need to renew?

Pennsylvania nurse-midwives must complete 30 contact hours of continuing education every two years to renew their license with the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine. Pennsylvania neither stacks nor invents a separate nurse-midwife hour count. 49 Pa. Code 18.3(b) makes it a condition of biennial renewal of the nurse-midwife license that the nurse-midwife complete the continuing education requirement in section 12.1 of The Professional Nursing Law, 63 P.S. 222, which is the same requirement the registered nurse license carries. The figure that statute produces is 30 hours per biennial renewal period, stated in 49 Pa. Code 21.131(a). So the nurse-midwife's continuing education is the registered nurse requirement applied to the midwife license, not an additional layer on top of it. Three components sit inside or alongside the 30 hours and are recorded under mandatory topics: two hours of child abuse recognition and reporting, required both by 18.3(b) and by 16.15(c.1) as a condition of biennial registration with the Board of Medicine; 16 hours in pharmacology each biennium for a nurse-midwife who holds prescriptive authority; and two hours in pain management, the identification of addiction, or the practices of prescribing or dispensing opioids each biennium for a nurse-midwife with prescriptive authority who holds or uses a DEA registration. National certification is a renewal condition rather than a source of hours: 49 Pa. Code 18.2(4)(ii) states that to be eligible for renewal of a nurse-midwife license, the nurse-midwife shall maintain national certification available to the profession and recognized by the Board, and 18.1 identifies the recognized certifying bodies as the ACNM and the American Midwifery Certification Board. No AMCB Certificate Maintenance Program total is recorded, because the state sets its own hour count. Under 49 Pa. Code 21.131(f) continuing education hours may not be carried over from one biennial renewal period to the next, and under 21.131(b) an applicant for initial licensure is not required to meet the continuing education requirement on the first renewal immediately following licensure, except for the mandatory child abuse hours; that exemption is written in the Board of Nursing's rule for the registered nurse license and is not restated in the Board of Medicine's midwife rule, so exempt_first_renewal is left null here.

How often does a Pennsylvania CNM license need to be renewed?

Certified Nurse-Midwife licenses in Pennsylvania renew every two years. Pennsylvania does not license nurse-midwives through the Board of Nursing. The State Board of Medicine issues the nurse-midwife license under 49 Pa. Code Chapter 18, Subchapter A, and the licensee must separately hold a Pennsylvania registered nurse license. 49 Pa. Code 18.3(a) requires the nurse-midwife license to be registered biennially following the procedure in 49 Pa. Code 16.15, and 16.15(c) provides that registration for a biennium expires December 31 of every even-numbered year. The Board of Medicine emails renewal notices about 60 days before the expiration date and states on its renewal page that licenses expire December 31 of every even-numbered year. Failure to pay the biennial registration fee by the required time automatically puts the license in unregistered status, and a licensee who practices during a period when registration was not renewed owes five dollars for each month or part of a month past the renewal date and may face disciplinary proceedings.

What specific CE topics are required for Pennsylvania nurse-midwives?

Child abuse recognition and reporting: 2 contact hours every renewal cycle (every nurse-midwife, as a condition of biennial registration, not only prescribers). Pharmacology: 16 contact hours every renewal cycle (Nurse-midwives who hold prescriptive authority under the act). Pain management, the identification of addiction, or the practices of prescribing or dispensing opioids: 2 contact hours every renewal cycle (Nurse-midwives who have prescriptive authority and who hold a DEA registration, or who use the DEA registration number of another person or entity as permitted by law, to prescribe controlled substances in any manner). Organ and tissue donation and recovery process: a one-time requirement of 2 contact hours (attaches through the registered nurse license a Pennsylvania nurse-midwife must also hold. A registered nurse licensed before May 1, 2026 owes it one time within five years of licensure renewal; a nurse licensed or reactivated on or after May 1, 2026 owes it one time within five years of that licensure or reactivation). Advanced pharmacology coursework for the prescribing certificate, plus pain management and opioid prescribing education: a one-time requirement of 45 contact hours (Nurse-midwives applying to the Board for the certificate authorizing them to prescribe, dispense, order and administer drugs). Citations: child abuse recognition and reporting (49 Pa. Code 18.3(b), 49 Pa. Code 16.15(c.1) and 49 Pa. Code 21.508(b)), pharmacology (49 Pa. Code 18.3(b)), pain management, the identification of addiction, or the practices of prescribing or dispensing opioids (49 Pa. Code 18.3(b)), organ and tissue donation and recovery process (49 Pa. Code 21.131(a.1), with content under 21.133(a.1) and sources under 21.134(a)(11)), and advanced pharmacology coursework for the prescribing certificate, plus pain management and opioid prescribing education (49 Pa. Code 18.6(6)(i)).

Do Pennsylvania 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 5 years. Continuing education must be approved by the Board, and 49 Pa. Code 21.134(a) lists the approved sources for registered nurse continuing education, which is the requirement 49 Pa. Code 18.3(b) incorporates. Those sources include activities sponsored by an accredited professional nursing, CRNP, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Clinical Nurse Specialist or Nurse Midwifery education program; accredited hospitals and health care facilities; regionally accredited institutions of higher education; national nursing, medical, osteopathic and other health care professional organizations and their state and regional affiliates; federal and state agencies; and activities approved by a board in another jurisdiction. The child abuse hours must come from a provider approved by the Bureau in consultation with the Department of Human Services, and the opioid hours from a source under 21.134(a)(2) or 21.334(a). The five year retention and the audit power are stated in 49 Pa. Code 21.131(c) for the registered nurse continuing education this requirement incorporates.

Sources

Last verified September 10, 2026. Every value above was read from one of these.

• 49 Pa. Code Chapter 18, State Board of Medicine, Practitioners Other Than Medical Doctors, Subchapter A, Licensure and Regulation of Midwife Activities (sections 18.1 to 18.9)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• 49 Pa. Code 16.15, Biennial registration; inactive status and unregistered statusStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• 49 Pa. Code 21.131, Continuing education (registered nurses)Statute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• 49 Pa. Code 21.134, Continuing education sourcesStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• 49 Pa. Code 21.508, Child abuse recognition and reporting, mandatory training requirementStatute or administrative rule, accessed September 10, 2026
• Renewal Information, Pennsylvania State Board of MedicineState board page, accessed September 10, 2026

Surprising regulator. Pennsylvania licenses the nurse-midwife through the State Board of Medicine, not the Board of Nursing, under 49 Pa. Code Chapter 18, a chapter titled State Board of Medicine, Practitioners Other Than Medical Doctors, whose Subchapter A is Licensure and Regulation of Midwife Activities. Unlike the Pennsylvania nurse anesthetist situation, which was mid-transition when that record was built, the nurse-midwife credential is long established and distinct: 49 Pa. Code 18.1 defines Nurse-midwife as a person licensed by the Board to practice midwifery, and 18.2 requires the applicant to be licensed as a registered nurse in the Commonwealth, to complete an approved midwife program, and to pass a midwife examination, which the rule identifies as the certifying examination of the ACNM, the ACNM Certification Council or the American Midwifery Certification Board. That definition is also how the credential trap was cleared: Subchapter A speaks only of the nurse-midwife, requires registered nurse licensure in every case, and does not license certified professional midwives or direct entry midwives, so nothing recorded here is borrowed from a non-nurse midwifery rule. On the layering question, Pennsylvania replaces rather than stacks. 49 Pa. Code 18.3(b) sends the nurse-midwife to the continuing education requirement in section 12.1 of The Professional Nursing Law, 63 P.S. 222, which is the registered nurse requirement, and the Board of Nursing's implementing rule at 49 Pa. Code 21.131(a) states that figure as 30 hours per biennial renewal period. There is no separate nurse-midwife hour total anywhere in Subchapter A. The 16 hour pharmacology component and the two hour opioid component are written directly into 18.3(b) and are scoped there to prescriptive authority and to DEA registration respectively, so they were not carried over by analogy from the nurse practitioner record. Two honest gaps. First, 63 P.S. 222 itself was not read; the 30 hour figure comes from 49 Pa. Code 21.131(a), an official Pennsylvania Code rule that states the figure and cites the statute, which satisfies the official host test. Second, the organ and tissue donation hours are recorded with an explicit scoping note because they appear in the Board of Nursing's registered nurse rule rather than in the Board of Medicine's midwife subchapter; a Pennsylvania nurse-midwife owes them on the registered nurse license that 18.2(1) requires, but the Board of Medicine has not restated them for the midwife license. Whether the Board of Medicine applies the Board of Nursing's first renewal exemption to a new nurse-midwife license is likewise not stated, so exempt_first_renewal is null. Section 18.3 was amended effective April 25, 2026 at 56 Pa.B. 2230, and 21.131 and 21.134 effective November 1, 2025 at 55 Pa.B. 7504, so all three were read in their current form.