S.L. midwifery gathering runs through Thursday

Midwifery professionals and students are gathered in Salt Lake City this week for the 51st annual meeting and exhibit for the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

ACNM is the professional organization for certified nurse-midwives and certified midwives in the United States. Its mission is to improve women's health care, support the profession and collaborate with policymakers, said executive director Deanne Williams, a CNM.

ACNM sets teaching and certification standards for the more than 40 accredited education programs in the country.

Teachers, students and practitioners have come from across the country to attend the conference, which runs through Thursday at the Grand America Hotel. Most have come to continue their education.

"In our profession it behoves us to keep abreast of the most current thinking in childbirth. ... Our organization wants us to be the best we can be. It demands it of us," said Connie Johnson, a CNM from Warrensburg, Mo.

There are about 90 nurse-midwives in Utah. The majority work on the Wasatch Front.

Most Wasatch Front hospitals have nurse-midwives, said Jane M. Dyer program director of the Nurse Midwifery and Women's Health Graduate Program at the University of Utah.

The U.'s graduate program in nurse-midwifery is more than 40 years old. The program requires two years of study after a bachelor's degree in nursing. The U. also offers a program for women's health nurse practitioners, and students can pursue both programs at the same time.

ACNM has about 7,000 members, with 6,200 in clinical practice.

Thomas Chappell, a CNM from Manning, S.C., said he enjoys, "Just seeing families come together, seeing women empowered by natural birth, giving women information to make choices and supporting those choices in a safe environment."

Midwifery is legal in all 50 states, and 97 percent of births attended by midwives in the United States are in hospitals, according to ACNM.

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