Childbirth Choices :: Choosing a Care Provider
OB/GYNs | Family Practitioners | CNMs | CPMs | CenteringPregnancy
According to the Midwifery Association of North America, a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) is a “knowledgeable, skilled and professional independent midwifery practitioner who has met the standards for certification set by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and is qualified to provide the midwifery model of care. The CPM is the only international credential that requires knowledge about and experience in out-of-hospital settings.” CPMs receive their training by attending specialized midwifery schools, or by apprenticing with experienced midwives in their communities. They have fulfilled rigorous requirements set forth by the NARM and have passed a comprehensive exam to demonstrate their skills as a safe practitioner.
Certified Professional Midwives are not necessarily nurses, and may not have been trained within the medical model, but rather specialize in providing prenatal and birth care for healthy women in their own homes or in birth centers (in North Carolina, only in homes). For women who view birth as a normal physiologic process, rather than a medical event, and who wish to birth in their own homes, a CPM may be the right care provider. Because they are not nurse-midwives, they do not operate within the same structure of physician back-up. For some women, this is a positive thing. CPMs are independent practitioners whose protocols are not influenced by physicians. For other women, the lack of collaboration between CPMs and physicians in North Carolina may be a negative thing. If medical intervention is required, the CPM will not be able to have the same collaborative relationship enjoyed by a CNM with the physician who steps in to assist, and many times will not be able to accompany her patients to the hospital.
CPMs adhere to the Midwives Model of Care™, which reads:
The Midwives Model of Care™ is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life events. The Midwives Model of Care includes:
- monitoring the physical, psychological and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle
- providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support
- minimizing technological interventions and;
- identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention
The application of this model has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean.
(The Midwives Model of Care definition above is Copyright © 1996-2001, Midwifery Task Force, All Rights Reserved.)
While CPMs are not currently licensed by the state of North Carolina, many other states (including South Carolina, Virginia, California, Oregon, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and many others) do recognize their skills as qualified practitioners and even reimburse them for their services through state Medicaid or private insurance. There are currently several activist groups in North Carolina working toward the licensure of CPMs in our state, which would improve access to quality maternity services in out-of-hospital settings.
For more information, or to get involved in the political movement to license CPMs: