What Is A CNM?
Your care at many birth centers such as Willow Midwife Center is overlooked by midwives instead of doctors or obstetricians. But did you know that there are different designations of midwives? At Willow Midwife Center, our providers are all CNMs.
What Does CNM Stand For?
CNM stands for Certified Nurse Midwife. A Certified Nurse Midwife is a primary care provider that mainly focuses on birth, pregnancy, conception, and family planning-related caregiving.
They are highly trained individuals that have completed a graduate-level program in nursing along with midwifery training and have cleared the exams to be certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board. A CNM is thereby licensed to practice on their own by all states.
What Is The Difference Between A CPM and CNM?
A CPM is a certified professional midwife. Their caregiving is limited to pre and postpartum mostly, but some states allow well-woman care as well.
The main differences between a CPM and a CNM are:
| CPM | CNM |
| Trained as a midwife only | Trained as both a midwife and a nurse |
| The credential is not accepted by all states | CNMs are allowed to practice in all states. |
| Can only help deliver babies outside a hospital setting, i.e. at home or at a birth center | Can deliver babies at home, at birth centers, and at hospitals as well |
| Cannot write prescriptions | A CNM can write prescriptions |
| Can provide pre and postpartum care only | Can also provide care for most gynecological problems |
To sum it up, a CPM is someone that’s more focused on natural birth and caregiving in birth centers or at home births, while a CNM can practice in both a birth center as well as a hospital setting.
What Does A CNM Do?
A certified nurse-midwife has plenty of responsibilities including:
- Attending and assisting births
- Giving primary care, especially for reproductive health-related issues
- Prescribing tests and medications
- Performing gynecological exams
- Providing sex education
- Providing family planning advice
- Monitoring the baby’s growth during the antenatal period
- Providing pre and postnatal care to mother
- Counseling parents regarding nutrition and care of newborn
- Training other nurses
- Keeping medical records and collaborating with other health professionals regarding their patients’ health
Our Team At Willow Birth Center
Here at Willow Birth Center, we have a team of Certified Nurse Midwives, including Belinda and Diane, our CNM founders. Along with them, our team of certified CNMs aims to provide personalized and quality maternity care to all mothers.
For any questions or appointments, feel free to contact us online or call us at 480-565-5990.