Nurse-Midwifery in Virginia

• Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) have been practicing in Virginia since 1976. The first full-scope nurse-midwifery practice in Virginia was the Family Birth Associates established in Arlington in 1978.
• CNMs in Virginia practice in a variety of settings including hospitals, physician practices, homes, health maintenance organizations, public health departments, an air force base, private practices, and two birth centers.

Statistics

• There are currently 180 CNMs licensed in the state of Virginia.
• There are 101 nurse-midwifery practice sites in Virginia.
• In 2002, Virginia CNMs attended 6,696 births. This number accounts for 6.7% of the 99,672 births in Virginia for that year.

Education

• There are currently 43 accredited education programs offering post-baccalaureate certificate and masters degree programs in nurse-midwifery and midwifery. A number of these programs have distance learning education options. There is a graduate program in nurse-midwifery at Shenandoah University in Winchester.

Practice and Reimbursement Issues

• Virginia CNMs currently have limited prescription writing privileges.
• There is mandated insurance reimbursement for Virginia CNMs.  

Source: (ACNM 3/06)

Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) are licensed health care practitioners educated in the two disciplines of nursing and midwifery. They provide primary health care to women of childbearing age including: prenatal care, labor and delivery care, care after birth, gynecological exams, newborn care, assistance with family planning decisions, preconception care, menopausal management and counseling in health maintenance and disease prevention. CNMs attend over 9% of the births in the United States. 96% of these births were in hospitals.

updated April 12, 2006