Pat Young wrote that
in the US a midwife is a CNM (certified nurse midwife)
        The CNM is generally licensed to practice as an advance practice nurse
under the regulation of the state's board of nursing, although one or two
states have set up boards of midwifery, which regulate midwifery practice.
The CNM has varying levels of prescriptive authority and can provide care
related to women's reproductive health issues beyond pregnancy related care,
including perimenopausal care and hormone replacement therapy.  CNM's work
in home-birth, birth-center and hospital settings.
but a midwife might also be CPM  (Certified Professional Midwife, usually a
non-nurse who has trained with other midwives and then having taken the NARM
exam); Care is usually related primarily to pregnancy related care, pap
smears and herbal practices related to reproductive health.  Generally have
no prescriptive authority, work in home-birth and a few birth centers.
or, LM ( Licensed Midwife, in some of the states where direct entry midwives
take an exam and are licensed by the state);  Care is again usually limited
to home-birth pregnancy care
or, CM (Certified Midwife, a non-nurse midwife who has graduated a pilot
course of study in New York and taken the same certifying exam as the CNM)
ACNM (American College of Nurse Midwives) is now seeking to have those with
this educational background recognized in other states;  work in home-birth,
birth-center and hospital settings, with limited prescriptive authority.
        DEM (Direct Entry Midwife, generally educated through an apprenticeship,
often unlicensed and unregulated in some states, actually illegal in others,
and often somewhat in regulatory limbo with medical and nursing regulators
often trying to find ways to outlaw or prosecute their practice)  Generally
involved only in home-birth pregnancy care and herbal recommendations
Just to add to the confusion over initials and roles!
Melinda Hoskins, MS, RN, IBCLC, SNM (Student Nurse Midwife, in the oldest
and largest nurse-midwifery educational program in the US, Frontier School
of Midwifery and Family Nursing, based in Hyden Kentucky but having students
in all 50 states and several foreign countries)

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