How to Find a Home Birth Midwife (2026 Guide)

Start with the Home Birth Partners directory and open your state, then your city. Or send our free matching form, and we'll share your request with a few local midwives and introduce you to those who are available. Either way, ask two or three midwives whether they have room around your due date and serve your address.

A listing does not confirm that a midwife is currently licensed, has room for your due date or travels to your address, so ask each one directly.

You can also look a midwife up on ACNM's Find a Midwife page, which lets you filter practices by home birth, birth center or hospital ^[8]. For a certified professional midwife, NARM has a verify a credential page ^[9]. NARM notes that not every CPM is listed there, because some choose not to be listed publicly, so a missing name does not prove someone is not a CPM, and it says to contact NARM directly if you cannot find her. Your state's licensing board lists who holds a license where one exists. If you are unsure whether home birth fits your pregnancy, our page on who is a good candidate for home birth is one place to start.

The three national midwifery credentials are certified nurse-midwife (CNM), certified midwife (CM) and certified professional midwife (CPM). Each state decides which of them may be licensed and attend home births, so confirm your state's rule with its licensing board before you hire anyone.

CNMs are advanced practice registered nurses trained in both nursing and midwifery ^[3]. CMs are direct-entry midwives certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board ^[2]. The CPM is a national certification from the North American Registry of Midwives, and each state decides whether to license CPMs ^[1]. Our guide to CPM and CNM home birth midwives compares them in more detail.

ACNM's position statement says "Certified midwives (CMs) and certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) are qualified to provide comprehensive antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, and newborn care in the home setting" ^[6]. ACOG lists, among the factors critical to good home birth outcomes, the availability of a certified nurse-midwife, a certified midwife or a midwife whose education and licensure meet the International Confederation of Midwives' Global Standards for Midwifery Education, or a physician practicing obstetrics, within an integrated and regulated health system ^[5].

Two sources count CPM states differently. As of October 17, 2024, the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM) counted 37 states and the District of Columbia where CPMs have a path to licensure ^[1]. A path to licensure is not the same as holding a license. The North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), in a state chart dated September 30, 2023, shows licensure in 32 states and DC, and certification, registration or a statute in five more: Colorado, Missouri, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Tennessee ^[2]. The lists do not name the same states, and they use different definitions and dates. Older counts are lower, such as the 33 states in a May 2019 listing cited by the National Academies ^[3]. Laws change, so check your state board's current page.

A 2021 survey of 129 midwifery practices in 49 states found that the full fee for prenatal, birth and postpartum care together averaged $4,650, with a median of $4,400 and a range from $2,000 to $9,921. Ask each midwife for her fee in writing and what it includes ^[4].

In the same survey, 24.0 percent of practices (31 of 129) offered a delivery-only option, meaning a charge for the birth without the prenatal and postpartum visits, at an average of $3,777, with a range of $2,000 to $6,000 ^[4]. The fees were collected in 2021, so current prices may be different. Our home birth midwife cost page has more on fees.

Most US planned home births in 2017 were paid for out of pocket: 67.9 percent were self-paid and 19.0 percent were paid by private insurance, in birth certificate data that left out California and births that transferred to a hospital ^[3]. Whether your plan pays depends on the plan and your state.

Ask your midwife whether she bills insurance, and ask your plan in writing whether it pays.

The same report says a few states, including New Hampshire, New York, New Mexico and Vermont, require private insurers to cover home births, citing a 2011 source. It adds that even where coverage is required, insurers may set conditions, such as requiring the midwife to carry malpractice insurance, that can lead to a denial ^[3]. Medicaid rules for midwives and home birth differ by state, so ask your state Medicaid office and the midwife which services are covered. Our pages on insurance coverage for home birth and out of network reimbursement cover next steps.

Ask whether she serves your address and has room around your due date, what her fee includes and whether she bills insurance, which hospital you would go to if you needed one, and who attends if she is unavailable. It is also fair to ask which credential and state license she holds.

It is reasonable to ask a midwife how often her clients transfer to a hospital and whether she has a written agreement with it. ACOG supports policies that "require clear communication by out-of-hospital birth attendants to their patients regarding transfer protocols, including prevalence, logistics, limitations, and scenarios in which a transfer may occur" ^[7]. ACOG also "recommends each out-of-hospital birth attendant have written transfer protocol agreements that are mutually agreed upon with the hospital(s) who would be receiving patients in the event of need for transfer" ^[7]. Published transfer rates are collected on our home birth transfer rate page, and our questions to ask a midwife page has a longer list.

Contact two or three midwives as soon as you are considering home birth, and ask each how many months ahead her calendar fills. We did not find a published standard for when to book a home birth midwife, so go by what she tells you.

If you already have an obstetrician or another provider, our page on switching from an OB to a midwife explains what the change involves.

It is reasonable to keep looking if a midwife cannot tell you her credential or state license, will not put her fee and services in writing, cannot name the hospital she transfers to or will not talk through a transfer. These are our editorial suggestions, not clinical criteria.

You can respect someone's training and still decide she is not the right fit, and a short call with a second or third midwife is a small price for finding the one you trust. Our page on what to expect in a midwife interview covers how those meetings usually go.