Apprentice
A student midwife; is someone who is planning to become a midwife. They are learning the art of midwifery through book work, clinical skills and training. They get their training through midwifery schools, self study, the midwifery practice that they work in and the families who graciously allow them to attend with their senior midwives and learn home birth midwifery.

Certified Professional Midwife (CPM)
A Certified Professional Midwife is a knowledgeable, skilled and professional independent midwifery practitioner who has met the standards for certification set by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and is qualified to provide the midwifery model of care. The CPM is the only international credential that requires knowledge about and experience in out-of-hospital settings.

Direct-Entry Midwife (DEM)
A direct-entry midwife is a skilled primary care giver to homebirth families. They are educated in the discipline of midwifery through self-study, apprenticeship, a midwifery school, or a college- or university-based program distinct from the discipline of nursing. A direct-entry midwife is trained to provide the Midwives Model of Care to healthy women and newborns throughout the childbearing cycle primarily in out-of-hospital settings.

Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNM)
Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) are educated in both nursing and midwifery. After attending an educational program accredited by the American College of Nurse Midwives Certification Council (ACC), they must pass the ACC examination and can be licensed in the individual states in which they practice most often in hospitals and birth centers.

Descent - Baby is dropping down into pelvis.

Dilation - The act of the opening of the cervix. The closed cervix needs to dilate from zero centimeters to ten centimeters in order to birth the baby.

Effacement - The act of the thinning of the cervix. The cervix is normally thick and cone shaped. Effacement is the act of thinning and flattening to allow the baby to pass.

Engagement - The baby's head is settled into the pelvis.

Floating - The baby's head (or other presenting part) has not settled into the pelvis, and can easily be pushed back higher in the uterus.

Gravida - Pregnancy. This number refers to the total number of pregnancies the mother has experienced, regardless of the number of births.

Lie - The position of the baby in the uterus.

Parity - The total number of births a woman has had.

Position - Refers to the location of the baby's head in the pelvis. Anterior presentation means that the baby's face is looking toward your back. Posterior means that the baby's face is looking toward your tummy. Posterior presentation is the cause of "back labor."

Presenting Part - The part of the baby which lays directly over the cervix. Vertex presentation means that the baby's head is pushing through the cervix. Breech positioning means that any part other than the head has presented.

Ripe - Refers to the readiness of the cervix and uterus to begin labor.

Stage - Labor is divided into three stages: 1. Dilation and effacement. 2. Delivery of baby. 3. Passage of placenta.

Station - Placement of the baby's presenting part. Point zero, or Station 0, means that the baby's head is engaged in your pelvis. Each centimeter below the pelvis and into your vagina is a plus position. Minus stationing means that the baby is still higher than the pelvic bone and that the uterus is still working to help the baby descend into engagement.