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National Midwifery Week
Midwives Looking to the Future
October 6-12, 2024
National Midwifery Week (#MidwiferyWeek2024) was created by ACNM to celebrate and recognize midwives and midwife-led care. It's time to display your pride in the hallmarks of midwifery that you deliver every day; this week is for you and about you.
This year's theme is "Midwives Looking to the Future." Rigorous scientific evidence demonstrates that care provided by midwives improves birth outcomes and patient experiences. The evidence also supports the importance of the integration and expansion of midwifery to the improvement of health outcomes across states and nations. The profession of midwifery is rooted in the past but essential to the future. Scaling up midwifery could help reduce adverse health outcomes, even in resource-constrained environments such as rural communities and could be implemented with successful outcomes at any stage of a country’s transition to lower maternal and newborn mortality rates. Midwifery care can be cost-effective, affordable, and sustainable. National governments should invest in deploying midwives and national health plans should have a strategy to scale up midwifery.
Each day of National Midwifery Week will feature opportunities for education and connection, and ACNM Members can attend multiple events this week for FREE to receive CEs. Embrace the spirit of the week, and share your vision for the future of midwifery on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Every action from every individual builds our celebration and helps to raise awareness about the important role midwives play in shaping our future. Tag us @ACNMmidwives and use the hashtags #MidwiferyWeek2024 and #MidwivesLookingtotheFuture when you post or share on social media for your chance to be featured on ACNM's social media channels!
Let us know how you'll be participating! If you need help or have any questions, please contact [email protected]
Join ACNM for education and connection all week - free for members*
Each day of National Midwifery Week will feature opportunities for education and connection, and ACNM Members can attend multiple events this week for FREE to receive CEs.*
Our full event schedule and registration links will be provided below as they are made available. Stay tuned!
*The PAC Rally and Leading a Midwifery Practice: How and Why workshop are not free activities
Business Day - Sunday, October 6
Midwives are increasingly involved in the business aspects of healthcare. The business of midwifery may include managing a practice, advocating for fair compensation, and other essential skills in financial management or staff planning. As we celebrate midwives in all capacities during this week, we chose to highlight the importance of strong practice leadership and ways to manage a midwifery practice effectively. On Business Day, the first portion of our Leading a Midwifery Practice: How and Why* workshop will be presented, along with the ACNM Annual PAC rally*.
- Midwives PAC Annual Rally* - The Midwives PAC, the fundraising arm of ACNM’s national advocacy efforts, is hard at work serving ACNM members. Save the Date for the virtual Midwives PAC Rally, Sunday, October 6, 2024, at 5:30 PM Eastern with special guest Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL).
- Leading a Midwifery Practice: How and Why* - 10 am ET | For midwifery practice leaders (and aspiring leaders). Explores components of leadership, financial management, strategic planning, staffing, quality management, and performance evaluation. Participants will receive a workbook that includes all workshop slides, example forms for processes discussed, and worksheets to outline their own next steps and action plans. This is an 8-hour workshop split between two days (Sunday and Monday). This workshop will provide opportunities to engage an in-depth exploration of what maintaining a midwifery practice entails. 8 CEs
Career Day - Monday, October 7
Interdisciplinary approaches are imperative when providing care to birthing people. A midwife’s career can span many different sectors. Career day is focused on highlighting the contributions of midwives in various careers to inspire current and future midwives to further their careers and their opportunities. Look forward to the continuation of Leading a Midwifery Practice: How and Why*, a career panel, and a discussion on burnout.
- Why midwives stay and why midwives leave: Sustaining the midwifery workforce - 2:30 pm ET | Almost a quarter of AMCB-certified midwives report not working in the discipline of midwifery. While burnout gets a lot of attention in the media, the process of leaving (and staying in) midwifery is complex and oftentimes painful. This session will explore the reasons why midwives leave practice and offer individual, organizational, and societal-level strategies to retain midwives based on ten years of research about midwives' professional well-being. 1 CE
- Leading a Midwifery Practice: How and Why* - 10 am ET | For midwifery practice leaders (and aspiring leaders). Explores components of leadership, financial management, strategic planning, staffing, quality management, and performance evaluation. Participants will receive a workbook that includes all workshop slides, example forms for processes discussed, and worksheets to outline their own next steps and action plans. This is an 8-hour workshop split between two days (Sunday and Monday). This course will provide opportunities to engage an in-depth exploration of what maintaining a midwifery practice entails. 8 CEs
- Insights into a Research Career as a Midwife Panel- 3:30pm ET | Are you a midwife or student midwife curious about combining your passion for maternal health with impactful research? Join our panel of experienced midwives who have successfully built research-focused careers to explore the diverse opportunities in this field. This webinar will delve into the intersection of clinical practice and research, discussing how midwives can contribute to advancing maternal and newborn health through evidence-based practices, clinical studies, and academic research.
Body Day - Tuesday, October 8
Comprehensive reproductive healthcare is a crucial aspect of a CNM/CM's role. Midwives offer evidence-based and relationship-centered care, empowering individuals giving birth to make informed decisions about family planning, abortion care, and other reproductive health matters. CNM/CMs champion the sexual and reproductive health rights of everyone, and it's important to acknowledge the impact of advocating for reproductive services
- Midwifery Care for the Incarcerated Population : addressing unique challenges and promoting individualized care - 7 pm ET | As of 2024 there are approximately 200,000 incarcerated women in the US. It is estimated that upwards of 10% may be pregnant. Each incarcerated person has unique health care needs that are best served by a clinician with a trauma informed care approach and a consideration for reproductive justice. This workshop will present a midwifery program that provides full scope care in the carceral setting, review specific considerations for this population, and discus why midwives are uniquely qualified to provide care for incarcerated individuals. 1.5 CEs
- Safe Abortion Care for Midwives - 5 pm ET | This 30 min presentation will be an brief overview/promotion of a longer program that will be offered by ACNM called Safe Abortion Care for Midwives. During this presentation, we will discuss abortion perspective including US and global facts, counseling and informed consent, pre-abortion evaluation, techniques for medication abortion and manual vacuum aspiration abortion, pain management, and counseling for contraception. This presentation will also promote and encourage participants to sign up for the longer course including the hands on workshop. 1 CE
- The Importance of Community Birth Panel - 3 pm ET | As more families seek alternatives to hospital-based births, community birth is gaining momentum as a vital, empowering option that places families at the center of their own care. This panel will explore the impact of community birth—encompassing home births and birth centers-- and its role in reshaping the narrative around birth and reproductive justice.
Advocacy Day - Wednesday, October 9
Advocacy is crucial to the future of midwifery as CNMs and CMs work each day to influence health policies that affect access to care, practice authority, Medicaid parity, and more. This day provides training and opportunities for participants to learn about effective advocacy strategies, an in-depth look at the advocacy toolkit from the ACNM Midwifery Workforce Study, and more.
- How to Advocate for Midwives and the Communities they Serve - 12 pm ET | ACNM is passionate about advocacy, and we want to inspire future midwives. This webinar is geared toward midwifery students and newly certified midwives and anyone who has an interest in learning more about how to become an advocate for the profession and how advocacy has helped move the needle for midwifery at the state and federal level. Midwives have a unique perspective on the healthcare system and can help shape health policy. Access this webinar to learn more about what has been done in several states, because of advocacy, to improve the culture of midwifery and maternal health.
- Using Midwife Workforce Research to Advocate for Good Midwife Regulation using the ACNM Advocacy Toolkit for Midwives - 1 pm ET | Midwifery practice is enabled or constrained by multiple regulatory and policy factors, including state law and hospital policies. This webinar will demonstrate how these factors combine to influence the midwifery workforce, and how to create an advocacy campaign in your state by using the step-by-step guide in the ACNM Advocacy Toolkit for Midwives. Using data from the ACNM Workforce Study and the toolkit will kickstart the right advocacy efforts for your state. 1CE
- Midwives and Political Engagement: Using Your Influence to Shape Public Policy - 8pm ET | The focus of this panel is political engagement, specifically serving in elected office. The goal is to uplift midwives who have run and serve in elected office, and to help break down what it takes. And for those not interested in elected office, to become more engaged in the political process and support colleagues who run. The panel has been designed to feature a midwife who currently holds a local office, a midwife who has currently holds state office and a midwife who ran for a federal office. The panel will be moderated by Healing Politics, whose mission is to get more midwives and nurses in public office. 1CE
Menopause Day - Thursday, October 10 - Sponsored by Astellas Pharma US, Inc.
Midwives provide care throughout the lifespan, including during menopause. This day is focused on exploring the latest research, treatments, and holistic approaches to managing menopausal symptoms. Presentations include a look at sex after 60, osteoporosis management and care, and pelvic floor physical therapy for those experiencing menopause.
- Osteoporosis: The Bare Bones - 2:30 pm ET | This presentation will provide an introduction to osteoporosis, including pathophysiology, risk factors, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. There will be emphasis on prevention, and the importance of early detection and management to prevent fractures and associated morbidity and mortality. By the end of the lecture, participants should have a basic understanding of osteoporosis, from its underlying mechanisms to the latest treatment options and preventive strategies. 1 CE
- Supporting Pelvic Health in Peri-Menopausal Women: Collaboration Between Pelvic Floor Physical Therapists and Midwives - 10 am ET | This presentation will focus on the role of pelvic floor physical therapy during peri-menopause, highlighting how pelvic health changes during this transitional phase. We will address common issues midwives may encounter in their patients, such as pelvic pain, incontinence, prolapse, and sexual dysfunction - and discuss how pelvic floor physical therapy can be a critical intervention. Topics will include hormonal changes, the impact of estrogen on pelvic tissue, and how pelvic floor PT can help manage symptoms through tailored exercises, manual therapy, and lifestyle modifications. The goal is to equip midwives with tools and knowledge to support their patients in peri-menopause. 1 CE
- Sex After 60 - 12 pm ET | Female sexual health after the age of 60 encompasses a range of physical, emotional, and psychological factors that can influence sexual well-being. This webinar will foster learning and provide tools for understanding changes in sexual health in a menopausal woman and will use case scenarios for practical conversations for addressing: common concerns and testing, dispelling myths both for the women seeking care and the provider, exploring solutions and treatments for basic sexual dysfunction, encouraging open communication while promoting emotional and psychological well-being. 1 CE
*********The Supporting Pelvic Health in Peri-Menopausal Women Presentation is pre-recorded and will be available by 3 pm ET on October 10*********
Innovation Day - Friday, October 11
The healthcare landscape is constantly evolving with new technologies, treatments, and evidence-based practices. Innovation Day is an exploration of the current advanced approaches to sexual and reproductive healthcare. It’s also a day to discuss the future of midwifery and the way forward in our current healthcare system. Look forward to panel discussions on innovative approaches to midwifery and midwife researchers.
- The Epigenetic Impact of Childbirth: An Emerging Hypothesis - 3 pm ET | This presentation will examine emerging evidence about potential epigenetic effects of care practices and interventions in childbirth. The thrifty phenotype hypothesis poses that there are critical windows of development both in utero and childhood which are associated with development of disease later in life. For example, poor nutrition of the fetus and infant during early development programs gene expression and the metabolic profile of the offspring to anticipate a life of starvation. The programming, meant to be protective, becomes hazardous later in life and can be passed onto future generations. The EPIIC hypothesis posits that eustress during the window of the actual labor and birth is protective by assuring that the hormonal physiology is supported and undisturbed. 1 CE
- HITECH Policy Recommendations for the Next Administration Centering Moms, Midwifery & Birth Centers - 12 pm ET | The 2024 election reflects a stark crossroads in the investment in women's health, maternal child health and health information technology. The speaker will highlight the policy and funding gaps in the Office of the National Coordinator (now Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy) federal policy framework for pregnancy, birth and post-partum care. The speaker will provide non-partisan recommendations on practical HITECH policy and funding that would benefit federal, state, and employers, while centering women's self-determination and privacy. 1 CE
- Innovative Approaches to Midwifery Panel - 10 am ET | This dynamic panel brings together outstanding midwives and midwifery innovators to explore how community led thinking and bold strategies are showcasing what’s possible in maternal and reproductive care. From leveraging social media and digital tools to creating inclusive community led, community birth models that address inequities, we’ll dive into real-world solutions and fresh ideas that are exploring the boundaries of the healthcare system. Panelists will share success stories, practical advice for implementation, and visions for the future, inspiring attendees to become change-makers in their own practices.
National Midwifery Week Participation Toolkit
CLICK HERE for our Participation Toolkit
This toolkit provides assets and opportunities to engage and spread the word during National Midwifery Week. No matter how you choose to celebrate, share it with us via email ([email protected]) or by posting on social media – using the hashtags #MidwiferyWeek2024 and #MidwivesLookingtotheFuture and tagging @ACNMmidwives!
Midwifery Week Main Theme Image
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Save the Date: Future National Midwifery Weeks
National Midwifery Week is held Sunday to Saturday, during the first full week of October.
October 5 - 11, 2025
October 4 - 10, 2026
National Midwifery Week Resource Pages
Click on the links below for more resources on celebrating and commemorating National Midwifery Week!