The CPM is the only midwifery credential that requires knowledge about and experience in out-of-hospital settings.

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Most CPMs own or work in private home or birth center based practices throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Providing continuous care for women throughout their childbearing cycle, CPMs generally carry a relatively low client load (averaging 3-6 births per month) which allows for more personalized and comprehensive care than typical obstetrical practices. The scope of practice of the CPM is derived from the NARM Job Analysis, state laws and regulations, and individual practice guidelines developed by each midwife according to her skills and knowledge.

 

The guiding principles of the practice of CPMs are to work with their clients to promote a healthy pregnancy and provide education to help them make informed decisions about their own care. In partnership with their clients CPMs carefully monitor the progress of the pregnancy, labor, birth, newborn, and postpartum period. They recommend appropriate management if complications arise, collaborating with other healthcare providers when necessary. The key elements of this education, monitoring, and decision making process are based on evidence-based practice which includes thoughtful integration of the best available evidence, coupled with clinical expertise, and the client’s values and needs. As such it enables midwives and their clients to address healthcare questions with an evaluative and qualitative approach. Evidence based decisions flow from a process that includes the assessment of current and past research, clinical expertise, and other information resources in order to determine the best course of care. Evidence-based practice and informed consent refers to the rights of healthcare consumers to be fully informed about testing or treatment options so that they can then make an educated choice among those options."