Qualifications
For some reason they don't trust just anyone to bring fragile human life into the world.
Midwives need certifications and degrees before any legitimate hospital, clinic, or prenatal care center will let them near a mother-to-be in labor. Legally, in order to become a CNM in the United States, you need to be a Registered Nurse; in many states, you actually need to get midwife-certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board.
This specifically-named organization will figure out if you've got what it takes to guide expectant mothers (and fathers) through the year-plus process of giving birth and caring for life.
Well, midwives don't take the dads through the giving birth part; usually they just coach dads so that they don't collapse in a puddle of anxiety and sweat on the floor.
For the most part, this all depends on your actual degree. Pretty much you'll be expected to have a bachelor's in nursing, which you'll use to pursue that master's in nursing midwifery. For those really driven nurses who only have an associate's degree, some exceptions can be made—but you're still going to have to receive that master's equivalence afterwards (source).
These programs will teach you everything you need to know about midwifing, from clinical internships to out-of-hospital settings. At the end of the program you'll take a certification exam and become a licensed midwife, after which the government will let you pop out all the babies you can handle. We advise gloves.