What is the difference between a nurse and a midwife?

A nurse is a general term for many different types of nurses, but is often used to refer to a LPN or a RN. An LPN or RN are responsible for the care and treatment of a patient, in the case of labor and delivery the nurse (often an RN) will provide the ordered medication or treatments and assist the patient in any way possible until delivery is about to take place. When delivery is about to take place the doctor or nurse midwife will step in and assist in the actual delivery of the baby and the immediate aftercare of the mother. There are also nurse midwifes that will assist mothers with natural births (birth without the use of medications) or home births.