Criteria for accreditation of direct-entry midwifery education

The American College of Nurse-Midwives' Division of Accreditation criteria for accreditating direct-entry midwifery education call for programs to require baccalaureate degrees for entry or award them at conclusion of the program and require faculty to be midwives certified by the ACNM Certification Council. Neither criteria can be met by any existing direct-entry program. The authors argue against these criteria, based in part on familiarity with the Seattle Midwifery School. The paper describes the development of the Seattle Midwifery School, summarizes reasons for and against requiring degrees for midwifery education, argues against excluding faculty of existing direct-entry schools who are not certified by the ACNM Certification Council, notes other efforts to develop credentials for direct-entry midwives, and concludes that professional direct-entry midwifery must be based on widely respected, rigorous national standards.