CABC Accreditation

The Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers (CABC) provides support, education, and accreditation to developing and established freestanding birth centers and alongside midwifery units in the USA, since 1985. 

• The only accrediting organization dedicated exclusively to the quality of the operation and services of all birth centers regardless of ownership, primary care provider, location, or population served.
• An independent not-for-profit organization that accredits developing and existing freestanding birth centers and Alongside Midwifery Units in the United States of America, according to established national standards for birth centers.

The CABC Indicators for Compliance with Standards for Birth Centers, Reference Edition 2.2 is a revealing look at CABC accreditation.

For everyone, especially parents considering birth center care, this document has these features to make it easy to use as a tool for discussion with birth center staff:

• Glossary that includes terms we explain often, acronyms, special terms we use that encompass multiple situations, and comparisons to help describe the diversity found among birth centers.
• Index of common topics, called tags. Select a tag anywhere in the body of the document to jump to a comparative list of all the Standards that also have that tag. Then, select a standard in that list to jump back to where you were or go to another standard.
• End Notes with references to studies and other resources.
• Links to Changes from the last edition to this edition are found on page 7.
• Links to Critical Indicators paramount to the safety of mothers and babies are found on page 8.

This is a living document, updated regularly, and the next edition will be published soon to show any updates in response to:

• New evidence relevant to maternity and newborn care encompassing the antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum and newborn time frames
• Updates in the AABC Standards for birth centers
• Updates in relevant professional guidelines