ACNM is - Midwifery Education Programs

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The Business of Being Born, which resultedin a flurry of media debate in avenues asprominent as the New York Times, Timemagazine, Newsweek, and Good MorningAmerica as well as community outlets likeWashington Parent magazine.Promoting the MidwiferyModel of CareACNM core messages weredesigned to educatewomen about the benefitsof midwifery care.Midwives do more than care forpregnant women; they are experts inwomen’s health and provide care forwomen from adolescence throughmenopause and beyond.Midwives trust patients to make gooddecisions, are passionate about helpingwomen understand their choices, andrespect the power of women’s bodiesand birth.For pregnant women, midwives offercomprehensive prenatal care and askilled continuous presence duringlabor, maximizing the likelihood of ahealthy baby, healthy mother, and asatisfying birth experience.ACNM staff attended the premier screening of TheBusiness of Being Born in New York City. From leftto right: Consultant Mairi Breen Rothman, CNM,MSN; Senior Technical Advisor Leslie Ludka,CNM; and Executive Director Lorrie Kline Kaplan.Building awareness of midwiferyin the US is a primary goal for ACNM.Many women are simply unaware of themidwifery model of care—a model characterizedby personalized, preventive,evidence-based care. While births attendedby certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) andcertified midwives (CMs) have increased byan impressive 33% over the past decade,midwives still attend a minority of USbirths. 1 Many women also don’t know thatCNMs and CMs are fully trained to functionas primary care providers.However, US women are showing signsof a shift in awareness. Numerous mediaoutlets publicized midwifery in 2008, whichled to a growing trend of questioning thehigh-tech norm for maternity care. Mediapersonality, actress, and mother Ricki Lakeand filmmaker Abby Epstein highlightedmidwives and birth in their documentary,Fit PregnancyPublic Education ProjectArticulates the Midwifery MessageMidwives put their message in the mail withthese midwifery-themed US postage stampsavailable through Stamps.com.Recognizing the magnitude of competinginformation about birth and women’s health,ACNM took the first step in articulating themidwifery message by launching the PublicEducation Project (PEP), which is fundedby the A.C.N.M. Foundation. In cooperationwith Jones Public Affairs, a focus group ofACNM members, and a survey of womenand their partners in 13 US cities, ACNMcrafted three core messages designed toeducate women in their 20s and 30s aboutACNM staff andmembers contributedto articles coveringmidwifery in thesepublications andbroadcast outlets.4 1. Births: Final Data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports: Vol 57, No 7. 2009.American College of Nurse-Midwives Annual Report 2008
(NAPS)—Every year, morethe benefits of the midwifery model of care.The messages were then integrated intomidwifery-themed postage stamps. Movingforward in 2009, our strategy will be to usethe messages to:• Educate consumers about theshortcomings in US maternity care.• Position midwives as the solution tothose shortcomings.• Make women aware that midwives areavailable in their communities.While 2008 was a year for formingstrategies, 2009 will be a time for mobilizingACNM members with concrete tools tomainstream midwifery care by spreadingthe word in their communities. Thanksto continued funding by the A.C.N.M.Foundation, we expect the PEP campaignto make an even larger impact in thecoming years and push us closer to ourvision of midwives attending 20% of USbirths by 2020.ACNM Members ReachBoston-area Women and FamiliesMore than 1,500 people attended ourfirst-ever Women’s Health Expo in Boston,where Mayor Thomas M. Menino declaredMay 24 Boston Nurse-Midwifery Day.Especially designed for consumers, theexpo featured a birth film festival, healthand vision screenings, and hundreds ofexhibitors, intensifying the annual traditionof public outreach in the city that hosts theACNM Annual Meeting & Exposition.Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino declaredMay 24 Boston Nurse-Midwifery Day at the firsteverACNM Women’s Health Expo.Online and Social Media EffortsIn 2008, we embraced online and socialmedia as tools to facilitate communicationwith members and to encourage memberto-memberinteraction. We completedan in-house redesign of www.midwife.org, improving the user experience andportraying an image that accurately reflectsour professional association. We alsocreated an ACNM Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/pages/American-College-of-Nurse-Midwives/51674209724as a space for members and theirsupportive clients and families to connect.ACNM’s top-ranked Web site, midwife.org,received more than 100,000 monthly visits.Women Turning To MidwivesFor Personalized CareHealthy IdeasAccording to the American Collegeof Nurse-Midwives, midwivesare independent providers whocare for women through all stagesof life and are trained to handlethe majority of complications thatmay arise during pregnancy andbirth. To find a midwife, visitwww.mymidwife.org.More and more women are discoveringand embracing the fullrange of midwifery services—forthemselves and their babies.than 4 million women give birthin the United States. That’s morethan 10,000 every day, whichleaves many new mothers—andtheir babies—feeling lost in thecrowd.In order to find a more “boutique”approach to prenatal andprimary health care, a growingnumber of women are turning tomidwives. According to the Centersfor Disease Control, in 2005, midwivesattended more than 300,000U.S. births—and more women areseeing midwives for family planning,annual exams and for helpnavigating normal life transitions.“When you decide to visit amidwife, you can expect a specialkind of care. Some midwivesspend up to an hour with firsttimepatients, and most midwivesstay with women through theentire birth process,” says CathyCollins Fulea, a certified nursemidwifeand midwife expert atwww.RealSavvyMoms.com.Certified nurse-midwives(CNMs) and certified midwives(CMs) are independent providerswho care for women through allstages of life and are trainedthrough graduate-level educationto handle the majority of complicationsthat may arise duringpregnancy and birth. Most CNMsand CMs attend deliveries in hospitals,and with low rates ofinduction, cesarean section andepisiotomy, midwives maintain animpressive safety record for bothmothers and babies.As experts in women’s health,midwives focus on early detectionof problems and emphasize attentive,individualized care to minimizethe chances of complications.During birth, midwives watchcarefully to ensure mother andbaby are doing well and practicejudicious use of interventions—including pain control and fetalmonitoring—when appropriate.“Midwives approach birth,puberty and menopause as normallife events rather than medicalproblems,” explains Fulea. Midwivesdon’t try to “fix” women ifthere’s not a complication. They’rethere to provide the care, supportand information women need toensure good health.To find a midwife near you,visit www.mymidwife.org.ACNM staff used the core messages to writethis syndicate press piece, which generated172 news articles in 16 states, reaching morethan 6 million readers.More and more women are discoveringand embracing the fullrange of midwifery services—forthemselves and their babies. ///Women Turning To Midwives ForPersonalized CareOver 500 signs on public buses and trainspromoted the consumer-focused ACNMWomen’s Health Expo.In 2009, we plan to harness the power ofsocial media to engage members and consumersin a conversation about midwiferyand women’s health. Plans are in progressfor an ACNM blog—Midwife Connection.ACNM’s Find a Midwife®at www.midwife.org/find.cfm assistsconsumers in locating midwives intheir communities.
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