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Certified Nurse Midwife profession (CNM)
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| Certified Nurse Midwife profession (CNM) |
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Alternative Names:
Nurse midwife profession Information:
HISTORY OF THE PROFESSION Text Continues Below
Nurse-midwifery in the United States dates back to 1925. At that time, Mary Breckenridge developed the Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky. The program used public health registered nurses, who had received additional nurse-midwifery education in England, to staff nursing centers in the Appalachian mountains. The centers offered family health care services in addition to childbearing and delivery care to residents within the region. The first nurse-midwifery education program in the U.S. was founded in 1932 at the Maternity Center Association of New York City. The program enrolled public health nurses and awarded a certificate in nurse-midwifery to its graduates. Today, all nurse-midwifery programs are within institutions of higher education. Approximately 70% of nurse-midwives graduate at the Master's degree level. These programs must be accredited by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) in order for graduates to be eligible to take the National Certification Examination. There are 47 ACNM accredited nurse-midwifery programs in the U.S. With only a few exceptions, applicants for nurse-midwife programs must be registered nurses and have at least 1-2 years of nursing experience. As with the nursing profession in general, most CNMs are women. However, in recent years more male nurses have chosen to become nurse-midwives. Primary health care services for women within underserved populations have been greatly enhanced through the services of nurse-midwives. The National Institute of Medicine has recommended that more reliance be placed upon nurse-midwives for the delivery of women's health care.
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