22 Interview Questions for a Homebirth Midwife

I have been in the birth community since 2008 and started apprenticing in 2014. As midwives working within the same area we generally know our colleagues. I do believe the vast majority of us practice in ways that provide excellent care of our clients despite not holding a license. Currently Ohio does not offer licensure to CPMs. 37 (as of 2023) states DO offer licensure, a map can be found here. I’m a staunch advocate for licensure. I was lobbying for licensure within the first year of my daughters birth in 2007 and in 2020 I put out a call for emergency CPM licensure. I’ve been working on the issue for many years at this point.

Currently it is up to each midwife to run their practice in a way that is ethical, safe and professional. We have our own practice guidelines and take careful considerations of our clients health to keep our clients safe. Because there are no options for licensure requirements there is no board to take issues to (ie like a dental, nursing or medical board where you can file a complaint about a provider) if issues with a midwife arrises. It also means that occasionally someone will do part of an apprenticeship and feel like they are ready to take on clients as a primary midwife without supervision. There are no guidelines to who can call themselves a midwife. Because of this we will occasionally have people pop up who have no experience learning under a midwife nor any background or training that would lend themselves to having the skills required to be a midwife. My own training took years, many hours in direct client care and many more hours in studying.

I have created this guide to share what questions to ask in an interview to help you feel more confident that you are hiring a midwife that meets your needs as a consumer. Most midwives want you to be with the midwife that you connect best with. We have some amazing midwives in our community, happy birthing!