ACOG requests unsourced anecdotal home birth "data"

Hi babyRN,

I should specify that I was not replying specifically to your post. I just thought it was so interesting that in this study the direct-entry midwives in North Carolina achieved excellent results at home with what was considered a higher-risk population, demographically. During the time of the JAMA study cited in my previous post, there was no national credentialing standard for direct-entry midwives in the United States.

Direct-entry midwifery in the U.S. has moved significantly toward greater standardization via the Certified Professional Midwife credential, which allows for more than one method of education but creates a single entry-level standard in terms of competencies, knowledge base, etc. The CPM credential has become the professional standard in states that have passed midwifery legislation specific to out-of-hospital birth. For information on the evolution of the CPM credential, you may wish to link to this document: http://www.narm.org/pdffiles/DevelopmentCPMProcess.pdf