Mission
Our mission is to lead global efforts that improve health and well-being of women and infants worldwide through strengthening the profession of midwifery and building the capacity of midwives and other health professionals to serve their communities.
History
Global outreach has been an integral part of the American College of Nurse-Midwives' (ACNM) mission for three decades. By promoting the health and well-being of women and infants within their families and communities through the development and support of the profession of midwifery, ACNM has partnered with organizations around the world to improve maternal newborn health. Beginning in the early 1980s, the department of global outreach (formerly known as special projects) developed training programs for traditional birth attendants through the leadership of Bonnie Pedersen. These initial efforts led to the development of the two landmark curricula: Life Saving Skills, a training curriculum for midwives and other health care providers in obstetric and reproductive health care; and Home-Based Life Saving Skills, a community-based program teaching emergency first aid action steps to increase access to emergency care within the home and decrease delays in reaching referral facilities.
Since 1982, ACNM has implemented projects and provided technical assistance in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eurasia. In the early 1990s, we expanded our areas of expertise to include:
- In-service clinical training development & implementation
- Integrated pre-service strengthening
- Health profession & association strengthening
- Community education & mobilization