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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Midwives?
Task-level automation exposure for Midwives: 36 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
34%
weighted task index
36 of 36 tasks scored
Median Salary
$65,790 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
35,010 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+5.1%
employment change
2,200 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 50 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$35,270 – $113,640
Highest medians
District of Columbia $113,640
Puerto Rico $108,890
New York $102,990
Kentucky $91,560
Missouri $86,110
Lowest medians
New Mexico $35,270
Arkansas $37,660
Mississippi $37,920
Iowa $42,070
Kansas $43,430
State figures come from the 29-9099 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 34%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 11%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 61%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 5%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 66/100
High
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
36 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 10%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 41%
15 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 49%
17 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 08/2021 · Incumbent
Test patients for sexually transmitted infections.
Constituent Tasks
#17466 · Core · 20% automatable
Monitor maternal condition during labor by checking vital signs, monitoring uterine contractions, or performing physical examinations.
decision support — In-procedure patient monitoring is hands-on clinical work
Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities. Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
#17479 · Core · 49% automatable
Identify tubal and ectopic pregnancies and refer patients for treatments.
decision support — Clinical referral judgment needs licensed human accountability
Diagnose medical conditions. Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
#17486 · Core · 18% automatable
Provide necessary medical care for infants at birth, including emergency care such as resuscitation.
physical manipulation — Hands-on emergency resuscitation and physical intervention
Treat medical emergencies.
#17472 · Core · 25% automatable
Conduct ongoing prenatal health assessments, tracking changes in physical and emotional health.
decision support — Functional assessment aided by data, exam human
Evaluate patient functioning, capabilities, or health. Care for women during pregnancy and childbirth.
#17481 · Core · 14% automatable
Monitor fetal growth and well-being through heartbeat detection, body measurement, and palpation.
physical manipulation — Measuring physiological attributes needs hands-on devices
Examine patients to assess general physical condition. Measure the physical or physiological attributes of patients.
#17474 · Core · 38% automatable
Establish and follow emergency or contingency plans for mothers and newborns.
decision support — Medical plans need exam, liability, and clinical judgment
Develop medical treatment plans.
#17478 · Core · 24% automatable
Identify, monitor, or treat pregnancy-related problems such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, pre-term labor, or retarded fetal growth.
decision support — AI suggests differentials; clinician examines and owns diagnosis
Diagnose medical conditions. Care for women during pregnancy and childbirth.
#17483 · Core · 30% automatable
Obtain complete health and medical histories from patients including medical, surgical, reproductive, or mental health histories.
interpersonal — Collecting from patients requires live clinical interaction
Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
#17476 · Core · 49% automatable
Evaluate patients' laboratory and medical records, requesting assistance from other practitioners when necessary.
visual inspection — Image interpretation assists; radiologist owns diagnosis
Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment. Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
#17482 · Core · 62% automatable
Maintain documentation of all patients' contacts, reviewing and updating records as necessary.
interpersonal — Patient history requires live elicitation and judgment
Record patient medical histories.
#17470 · Core · 55% automatable
Assess the status of post-date pregnancies to determine treatments and interventions.
decision support — Treatment goals need clinical accountability and context
Analyze patient data to determine patient needs or treatment goals.
#17468 · Core · 22% automatable
Set up or monitor the administration of oxygen or medications.
decision support — In-procedure patient monitoring is hands-on clinical work
Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities. Prepare medical supplies or equipment for use.
#17489 · Core · 2% automatable
Suture perineal lacerations.
physical manipulation — Surgery is physical and high-accountability
Operate on patients to treat conditions.
#17484 · Core · 45% automatable
Perform post-partum health assessments of mothers and babies at regular intervals.
decision support — Functional assessment aided by data, exam human
Evaluate patient functioning, capabilities, or health.
#17490 · Core · 25% automatable
Test patients' hemoglobin, hematocrit, and blood glucose levels.
physical manipulation — Specimen testing needs lab equipment operation
Test biological specimens to gather information about patient conditions.
#17493 · Core · 55% automatable
Counsel women regarding the nutritional requirements of pregnancy.
decision support — Wellness advice needs tailoring and clinical accountability
Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
#17485 · Core · 42% automatable
Provide information about the physical and emotional processes involved in the pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum periods.
interpersonal — Medical communication needs empathy and clinical accountability
Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
#17488 · Core · 55% automatable
Refer patients to specialists for procedures such as ultrasounds or biophysical profiles.
decision support — Clinical referral judgment needs licensed human accountability
Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
#17465 · Core · 4% automatable
Assist maternal patients to find physical positions that will facilitate childbirth.
physical manipulation — Physically positioning patients for exams
Position patients for treatment or examination.
#17469 · Core · 15% automatable
Assess birthing environments to ensure cleanliness, safety, and the availability of appropriate supplies.
visual inspection — Cleanliness inspection is physical and on-site
Inspect facilities for cleanliness. Stock medical or patient care supplies.
#17495 · Core · 40% automatable
Incorporate research findings into practice as appropriate.
decision support — AI advises adoption; humans deploy and integrate
Apply new technologies to improve work processes.
#17475 · Core · 30% automatable
Estimate patients' due dates and re-evaluate as necessary based on examination results.
decision support — Treatment goals need clinical accountability and context
Analyze patient data to determine patient needs or treatment goals. Care for women during pregnancy and childbirth.
#17467 · Core · 5% automatable
Provide comfort and relaxation measures for mothers in labor through interventions such as massage, breathing techniques, hydrotherapy, or music.
physical manipulation — Pregnancy and childbirth care is physical clinical presence
Care for women during pregnancy and childbirth.
#17487 · Core · 55% automatable
Provide, or refer patients to other providers for, education or counseling on topics such as genetic testing, newborn care, contraception, or breastfeeding.
decision support — Clinical referral judgment needs licensed human accountability
Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources. Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
#23926 · Core · 42% automatable
Provide patients with contraceptive and family planning information.
interpersonal — Medical communication needs empathy and clinical accountability
Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
#17471 · Core · 5% automatable
Collect specimens for use in laboratory tests.
physical manipulation — Invasive specimen collection needs hands-on clinical skill
Collect biological specimens from patients.
#17480 · Core · 42% automatable
Inform patients of how to prepare and supply birth sites.
interpersonal — Medical communication needs empathy and clinical accountability
Communicate detailed medical information to patients or family members.
#17477 · Core · 5% automatable
Respond to breech birth presentations by applying methods such as exercises or external version.
physical manipulation — Pregnancy and childbirth care is physical clinical presence
Care for women during pregnancy and childbirth.
#23927 · Core · 18% automatable
Perform annual gynecologic exams, including pap smears and breast exams.
physical manipulation — Physical exam requires hands-on patient contact
Conduct diagnostic tests to determine patient health. Assess physical conditions of patients to aid in diagnosis or treatment. Collect biological specimens from patients.
#17473 · Core · 38% automatable
Develop, implement, or evaluate individualized plans for midwifery care.
decision support — Medical plans need exam, liability, and clinical judgment
Develop medical treatment plans.
#17498 · Core · 55% automatable
Recommend the use of vitamin and mineral supplements to enhance the health of patients and children.
decision support — Wellness advice needs tailoring and clinical accountability
Provide health and wellness advice to patients, program participants, or caregivers.
#17496 · Core · 62% automatable
Provide information about community health and social resources.
text generation — Health messaging drafted by AI; public delivery human
Communicate health and wellness information to the public.
#17491 · Core · 68% automatable
Compile and evaluate clinical practice statistics.
data analysis — Quantitative treatment efficacy analysis; researcher verifies
Analyze quantitative data to determine effectiveness of treatments or therapies.
#17499 · Core · 10% automatable
Treat patients' symptoms with alternative health care methods such as herbs or hydrotherapy.
physical manipulation — Alternative procedures are hands-on
Treat patients using alternative medical procedures.
#17492 · Supplemental · 68% automatable
Complete birth certificates.
text generation — Health records drafted; clinician verifies and signs
Prepare official health documents or records.
#17494 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Collaborate in research studies.
information retrieval — Literature review aided; wet-lab and clinical research human
Conduct research to increase knowledge about medical issues.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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