Becoming an Apprentice Midwife
Miss Scarlett, I don't nothing about birthing no babies. Not since Prissy spoke those famous words in "Gone With the Wind," have we had so much attention on the birthing process. Television shows like "A Baby Story" and "True Stories from the ER" bring us live births complete with fainting husbands, tearful grandmas, laboring mothers, and yes midwives.
When we're not watching birthing stories on television, we're reading about them. Midwives a current best seller by Chris Bohjalian is the story of a midwife on trial for murder. Something went terribly wrong during the labor and in an attempt to save the baby; the midwife may have killed the mother. Even our younger generation is reading about the women who assist other women in birth. Karen Cushman's The Midwife's Apprentice is a favorite among the 9-12 crowd. Set in medieval England, a young girl sets out to learn the skills of midwifery. No sanitizing is done in describing the scenes often set in squalid conditions with terrible danger to the mothers.
These days a certified midwife may have a master's degree and her apprentice may be job shadowing on her way to her own degree. The road to becoming a midwife often starts in high school with emphasis on biology, chemistry, health and behavioral sciences such as psychology. The role of midwife is as much psychological counselor as it is that of physically assisting the birth. Women choose midwives so that they may have more control over their birth plan, whether it be at home or in a birthing suite in a hospital. It is essential that midwives are compassionate persons who will support the mother emotionally as well as physically during the pregnancy, labor and delivery. An apprentice will be there in a supportive role, often acting as a Doula, one who coaches through and eases the labor pains with massage, encouragement, and reassurance.
If that role appeals to you, you'll want to apprentice with a midwife who is licensed and registered with the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). Some of the friction between physicians and midwives in the past has arisen because often unlicensed midwives worked outside the medical community. Then when an emergency arose (and they can even in an anticipated normal birth) there was no backup system in place to take care of patient. In most communities today, midwives and physicians work in cooperation with each other. Some midwives work for physicians, seeing patients who are at low risk for complications and who are opting for natural childbirth. In this kind of relationship, the patient definitely benefits as midwives generally have more time to give to patients and more time is freed for physicians to devote to higher-risk patients.
During a midwife apprenticeship, you'll participate in patient care during prenatal, labor, childbirth, postpartum, and care of the newborn. Some midwives, generally termed Nurse Practitioners or Nurse Midwives) care for non-pregnant women as well. Nurse midwives are an excellent alternative to OB-GYN physicians.
There are many excellent references that can get you started on the path to becoming a midwife. Paths to Becoming a Midwife: Getting an Education not only details the duties of both a midwife and apprentice, but also lists midwifery, childbirth education, and Doula training programs in the U.S. If the subject intrigues you, consider the magazine Midwifery Today and the books Spiritual Midwifery and Heart and Hands: A Midwife's Guide to Pregnancy and Birth.
There are many reasons for becoming a midwife's apprentice: interest in obstetrics, a love of helping the birthing process and being present when a new baby arrives, or a desire to give back to others what you received from your own midwife. It's not an especially easy career. The hours are long and unpredictable and the emotional challenges can be huge. But if after you have assisted at a few births, you feel privileged and awed to be present as a new being enters the universe, then you may have found your career. Chances are that soon you'll be studying to become a full-fledged midwife yourself.
