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Review of Case Materials
Reviews records, documents, testimony, data, and other relevant materials and consults with counsel regarding technical issues related to the matter.
Provide Expert Analysis
Applies specialized knowledge and experience to evaluate the technical or professional issues involved.
Form Expert Opinions
Develops independent, supportable opinions based on the available evidence and relevant standards.
Prepare Expert Reports
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The expert's credentials and practice background should correspond to the midwife whose care is being evaluated and to the clinical issues in dispute. In the United States, credentials can include Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM), Certified Midwife (CM), and other forms of midwifery licensure or certification. Scope-of-practice requirements also vary by state. Counsel should therefore consider the expert's credential, licensure, birth setting, clinical experience, and familiarity with the standards applicable to the time and place of care. ACOG and ACNM both recognize important credential and regulatory distinctions within U.S. midwifery practice.
The roles can overlap during childbirth, but they involve different professional scopes. A midwife may independently assess, diagnose, manage, and treat patients within the scope authorized by the midwife's credential and jurisdiction. A labor and delivery nurse provides nursing assessment, monitoring, medication administration, documentation, communication, and other nursing care within the nursing role. When the allegation centers on the midwife's clinical decisions, Midwife expertise is the more direct fit; when the disputed issues principally concern nursing assessment, monitoring, medication administration, documentation, communication, or other nursing standards, appropriately qualified nursing expertise may also be needed. ACNM describes CNM and CM practice as encompassing independent care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.
Midwife expertise is particularly relevant when the disputed labor care was provided or directed by a midwife and the questions concern assessment, fetal monitoring, labor progression, medication or induction management, delivery decisions, consultation, or transfer of care. When the dispute instead concerns broader intrapartum care involving multiple clinicians or professional standards, additional obstetric, nursing, or other appropriately qualified expertise may be needed depending on the allegations and the care at issue.
Prepares clear, well-supported expert reports outlining methodology, analysis, findings, and opinions.
Provide Deposition Testimony
Explains findings and opinions under oath and responds to questioning during deposition testimony.
Testify in Court
Presents specialized findings and opinions clearly to judges, juries, arbitrators, or other decision-makers.
The appropriate response depends on the patient's condition, the midwife's credential and scope, the practice setting, applicable law, available resources, and the clinical circumstances. ACNM supports consultation, collaborative management, referral, or transfer when indicated, while ACOG emphasizes risk-appropriate care and established transfer protocols across birth settings. An expert can examine the developing clinical findings and timing of consultation or transfer without assuming that one universal threshold applies to every case.
Midwifery practice can extend beyond the moment of birth. ACNM describes CNM and CM practice as including postpartum care and care of the healthy newborn during the first 28 days of life. A disputed case may therefore involve maternal postpartum assessment, bleeding, infection concerns, breastfeeding support, newborn transition, initial newborn assessment, or recognition of a need for referral or higher-level care. When neonatal illness or intensive newborn treatment becomes the primary issue, separate Neonatology expertise may be appropriate.
