ABOUT THE GUIDELINES FOR INCORPORATION OF NEW PROCEDURES INTO NURSE-MIDWIFERY
PRACTICE

Midwifery education is based on the Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice. These core competencies reflect the clinical skills and scientific knowledge that graduates of ACNM accredited education programs must have to be safe, competent professional midwives providing health care to women and infants. Graduates of ACNM accredited education programs take a national certification exam that tests their knowledge of the core competencies in order to become CNMs or CMs.

These core competencies do not reflect all of the skills, knowledge and competencies demonstrated by individual midwives practicing in different sites and different geographic regions. To assist CNMs and CMs who seek to expand their scope of practice to meet the needs of the women in their care, the ACNM established Standards for Evaluation of Nurse-Midwifery Procedural Functions in 1972. The document was revised and renamed Guidelines for Evaluation of Nurse-Midwifery Procedural Functions in 1979. The current version of this document was renamed the Guidelines for Incorporation of New Procedures into Nurse-Midwifery Practice and was approved in 1987 and revised in 1990 and 1992.

The ACNM does not require midwives to expand their scope of practice. At times the ACNM will take a position on certain types of procedures and their appropriateness for midwifery practice. For a complete list of position statements, clinical practice statements, and fact sheets, visit our section on Professional Information.

DETERMINATION OF STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES

The Standards for Practice of Nurse-Midwifery and Guidelines for the Incorporation of New Procedures into Nurse-Midwifery Practice are defined by the ACNM, the professional association for CNMs and CMs. These documents go through a rigorous review approximately every five years and are revised to reflect the current practice expectations for the profession. This review process is coordinated by members of the association on the ACNM Division of Standards and Practice. The process takes a full year and involves an opportunity for input from every member of the profession. The final standards and guidelines are then ratified by the ACNM Board of Directors (BOD).