The history and evolution of the Core Competencies for basic midwifery practice

The Core Competencies in Nurse-Midwifery were first published in 1978 to provide a standard approach to nurse-midwifery education and now serve as the template for curriculum in nurse-midwifery/midwifery education. This article is an expansion of an earlier publication documenting the development of the Core Competencies document and describes its history and use in midwifery education and professional practice. The development and continued revision of this document are a significant part of ACNM and midwifery history in the United States. It defines the competencies essential to basic practice and can be used to define the scope of midwifery practice in both professional and policy arenas.