Data Collection for Certified Professional Midwives

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NACPM encourages all CPMs to collect their individual practice data. Recently, Washington State, Oregon, and Vermont have adopted legislative requirements for statistics collection from all licensed midwives, and other states are considering such requirements. There are multiple reasons why it is critical for Certified Professional Midwives to collect practice data.

Why is Data Collection Important?
Good quality research about midwives and midwifery care is critical to:

  • Inform women about midwives and the midwifery model of care

  • Provide guidance for women as they choose their maternity care provider and site of birth

  • Improve midwifery practice and quality of care

  • Influence policy to improve maternity care in the U.S.

Accurate data collection is essential to maintaining the integrity of research. In addition, data are the raw materials that are used to build performance measures. Collecting, analyzing, interpreting, reporting and acting on data for performance measures are essential to provide evidence of quality of care and outcomes for provider groups, including Certified Professional Midwives. 

All current payment innovations, including in the Affordable Care Act – paying for performance and outcomes – are driven by data collection, performance measurement and demonstration of outcomes. U.S. government agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), are seeking innovative approaches to maternity care and improving perinatal outcomes, and have indicated interest and support for midwife and birth center models if there is adequate evidence of quality of care and good outcomes. 

Two national data registries exist to collect information on home and birth center:

1. Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) Statistics Project
» Learn about the MANA Division of Research
» Read about the MANA Data Registry
» Participate in the MANA Data Registry
» Recent article from MANA DOR

2. Perinatal Data Registry (PDR) of the American Association of Birth Centers
» Learn about the PDR
» Read about the features of the PDR
» Participate in the PDR
» Recent article from the PDR

» General information on data collection
» Webinar on Performance Measurement
» From Childbirth Connection on Performance Measurement
» Informing Women with Performance Measurement