Ohioans for the Preservation of Traditional Midwifery
Welcome!
NOTICE: It has been brought to my attention that there are some mistakes and on the site. While we try hard to ensure that the site is well- done, due to our busy lives and thus lack of time to work on the site, we sometimes make errors.
We will be editing the site and correcting these errors over the next few days; please be patient as we do this and respect that fact that this site is a work in progress!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND SUPPORT!
Helpful Definitions and Explanations
A Word about Terminology
Don't feel bad if you are confused about midwifery terminology; we feel your pain. While we love to educate, we also don't want to bore people with terms and technical jargon- so we'll be brief in order to make things a little less painless!
The medical community refers to all midwives who are not nurse- midwives as "Direct- entry midwives (DEMs) ", "lay" midwives or "traditional" midwives. They refer to midwives who are not nurses but who have been certified through the American College of Nurse- midwives as "Certified Midwives (CMs)".
Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) are nurses (who gave obviously gone to nursing school) and who have additional education in midwifery. In Ohio CNMs do not assist women laboring at home.
Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) are direct- entry midwives who have been certified through NARM. For information on NARM certification, please refer to http://www.narm.org/.
Licensure means to be licensed; that is to have been given a license to practice from the state, a midwifery board, etc. In Ohio, the new proposed bill calls for state licensure and regulation by a proposed midwifery board. Positions on the board will be appointed by the governor.
Certification is not the same as licensure. Certification means that a person has gone through a training process, has taken an exam, etc. and has proven that he or she is adept and qualified to perform a specific task. NARM certification was made for midwives by midwives and,while peer review is a necessary component of re-certification, it is midwives discussing the performance of other midwives; there is no governmental agency involved in this process.
Regulate means to oversee, impose rules and standards and come up with process to determine accountability, scope of practice, etc.
For in- depth explanations of midwifery terminology, please visit: http://www.mana.org/definitions.html
An excellent site that provides straightforward definitions and information is: http://mnmidwife.org/choosinghtml#types of midwives
