In 1982, The Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) was established as a professional organization for midwives. Its stated goal is to unify and strengthen the profession of midwifery and the organization states that this will improve the quality of health care for women, babies, and communities.
The North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) oversees a competency-based certification process for midwives, granting the title of Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) to those passing written examinations and tests of clinical experience and skills.
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Around the world, and throughout most of history up until the last few decade, women have labored and birthed with midwives.
The MANA approach to childbirth includes hands-on care before, during, and after birth. While there are different types of midwives practicing in various settings, all midwives are trained to provide comprehensive prenatal care and education, guide labor and birth, address complications, and care for newborns.
Countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand use midwives as their main maternity care providers while other counties, including the United States, recognize midwives as a legitimate alternative to doctor-assisted birthing.
The role of a midwife is to monitor labor, guiding and supporting the birthing woman through the birth process.
World Health Organization statistics show that births attended by midwives have lower infection rates, lower C-section rates, fewer complications and healthier outcomes—thus, lower overall medical costs—than physician-attended hospital births. Other studies have found that there is no difference in infant mortality between midwife-attended and physician-attended births for low-risk women.
The organization states that its goals are:
MANA membership includes midwives and student midwives, supportive healthcare providers, and families.
Membership benefits include: