An urgent call to all midwives and their supporters.

The previous page summarizes two press releases from the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM). They show the two organizations vying to accredit direct-entry (non-nurse) midwives. The NARM program to become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) is now available to experienced and entry-level midwives. It is unique in recognizing many educational routes, including apprenticeship, and in providing an opportunity for direct-entry midwives to demonstrate their skills and obtain nationally-recognized certification.

At the same time, and despite its earlier declarations that it would leave non-nurse midwifery to MANA and NARM, the ACNM has decided to "set the national standard" by recognizing programs which will not require a nursing degree and will lead to a midwife being a Certified Midwife (CM). However, these programs will be university based and will require/result in a bachelor's degree as well as the intensive midwifery training.

At their national convention in May, ACNM announced their public education and legislative plan to target all states that have midwifery licensing and all states where midwives are a legal. They plan to inform states of the ACNM certification and the "fact" that they are the only ones to set the standard for midwifery.

This country needs more midwives, and in my opinion nursing is irrelevant to the practice of midwifery. It is clear, even to the ACNM, that the future lies with non-nurse midwifery. However, in trying to preempt non-nurse midwifery from MANA/NARM, the ACNM is jumping the gun. Investigative midwives in Colorado report that the hearing for the ACNM Division of Accreditation (DOA) before the U. S. Department of Education does not come up until November and it is unclear whether the department will recommend their expansion into non-nurse midwifery due to the inexperience of the ACNM in accrediting schools with out-of-hospital birthing experience.

It is vital that all practicing midwives apply now to become Certified Professional Midwives and that consumers and others encourage their midwives to get certification to strengthen these programs an insure the recognition of the apprenticeship model. Application packets are now available for experienced midwives (midwives who have been in practice for the past five years and who have attended at least seventy-five births), and packets for other midwives will be available in the fall of 1995. And everyone should become a member of MANA - these are vitally important times for the future of midwifery!

I want to personally urge any experienced midwives to apply now to become CPMs because the opportunity to apply as an "experienced midwife" will be available only through December of 1996 Not only is the application process shorter (you need not be "checked out" on the various skills), but you are also able to become a Qualified Examiner for other midwives who will be applying for certification in the future. You and your future apprentices) will need the Practical Skills Guide for Midwives, a valuable book in itself, available from Morningstar Publishing Co., Box 671427, Chugiak, AK 99567; [phone].

Midwives who are certified by their state organizations should also urge these organizations to apply for recognition with NARM, for this will shorten the certification process for them. Likewise, Certified Nurse-Midwives qualify as "pre-approved" on parts of the requirements, but must attend a certain number of births in homes or other out-of-hospital settings and provide continuity of care prenatal, delivery and postpartum) for a number of these births.

Why become a Certified Professional Midwife? National certification goes beyond the variations from state to state and helps to establish the validity of direct-entry midwifery by testing knowledge and skills and validating the mechanism of apprenticeship. By becoming a qualified examiner., you will help insure that other midwives are able to receive training and take up the art and profession of midwifery. National certification will also help the battle to legalize midwifery in states where it is now illegal to practice.

The application packets to become a Certified Professional Midwife are now available for $50 from NARM Certification Applications, P.O. Box 2257, Lake Ozark, MO 65049.

Applicants must also take the NARM registry exam or a state exam deemed equivalent), which is offered twice a year throughout the country at locations organized by those applying for the exam. This exam should not be agonized over! It is designed to test knowledge for entry-level midwifery, and any practicing and competent midwife should be able to pass the exam without studying for it. It is practice oriented, and does not ask details such as the number of centimeters in the diagonal conjugate, NARM Examination information is available from Pam Weaver, Box 672169, Chugiak, AK 99567.

The entire process adds up to a fair chunk of money ($500 total), but it is a once-in-a-lifetime investment and the money is needed by NARM to meet the expenses it has incurred in bringing midwives together and developing a certification process which has actually been developed by practicing direct-entry midwives. The certification has the real possibility of furthering midwifery as a valid choice for pregnant women and a valid choice for women in the future who want to become midwives but do not wish to become nurses first.

The development of the Certified Professional Midwife has grown out of direct-entry midwifery and the work of the Midwives' Alliance of North America. If you are a birthing family, ask your midwife if she is a member of MANA and if she is applying to become a CPM. if you are a midwife yourself, get started on the application process today.