Have you heard the term Certified Nurse-Midwife lately at Summit OBGYN? Wondering what the different categories of midwives entail? For patients at Summit OBGYN, here is a great summary about the 5 types of midwives.
- Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)
- Certified Midwife (CM)
- Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
- Direct-entry Midwife (DEM)
- Lay Midwife
Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and Certified Midwife (CM)
From graduatenursingedu.org, CNMs are nurses who have completed a graduate-level nurse-midwife program and passed a certification exam from the American Midwifery Certification Board, while CMs are non-nurses who have completed a graduate-level midwifery degree program and passed a certification exam from the American Midwifery Certification Board. CNMs and CMs are qualified to provide the same level of care. All states license CNMs for independent practice but not all states license CMs.
Midwives are educated under the nursing model of care which emphasizes a holistic approach to primary health care of women. Examples of care include:
- Well woman exams
- Pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum care
- Family planning
- Contraceptive guidance and management
- Sexual health
- Menopause management
Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
A Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) is not required to attain an academic degree. CPMs attend a midwifery program or school, complete an apprenticeship and are certified through the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) . The majority of CPMs attend births in the home or birthing centers.
Direct-Entry Midwife
Direct-entry midwives specialize in births at home and in free-standing birth centers. No national certification or licensing is available for direct-entry midwives and each state has its own legal requirements for education and licensing. Most direct-entry midwives are self-employed.
Lay midwife
Lay midwife refers to an uncertified or unlicensed midwife who often has an informal education, such as apprenticeship or self-study, rather than a formal education.
Jenn Larson, Certified-Nurse Midwife at Summit OBGYN
Jenn Larson is part of the team of providers at Summit OBGYN. Jenn has over 15 years of nursing experience and is certified in the state of Wyoming as a Certified-Nurse Midwife. Jenn joins Dr. Biggs and Dr. Cohn in seeing patients in the clinic. This compassionate team makes each expecting mother’s ob care top priority. Additionally, Jenn sees patients for annual check-ups as well as for gynecological issues. At this time, she does not attend deliveries at the hospital. For more information about Jenn, visit Summit OBGYN’s About Staff section for her biography.
Sources:
- http://www.midwife.org/acnm/files/ccLibraryFiles/FILENAME/000000006807/FINAL-ComparisonChart-Oct2017.pdf
- https://www.graduatenursingedu.org/careers/certified-nurse-midwife/what-is-a-midwife/