Midwife Training and Education University vs Apprentice
A time to be born.
Babies are born every day. You want to be a part of that process and not necessarily by giving birth but by assisting birth. You've seen a movie where a woman in long skirts battles the elements to triumphantly deliver a healthy wailing baby to the thankful parents. Maybe you can't stop thinking about The Midwife's Apprentice, (K. Cushman) describing a poor girl's career journey. You love babies. You want to help women bring their babies into the world (to "catch" babies). You want to be a midwife. You wonder which education path you should choose. Should you be an apprentice midwife or go through the university?
Today, going the route of apprentice may not be practical or allow you to practice legally.
Most healthcare fields in US are establishing nationwide standards for entry into practice. Physicians have long had an established formal education prior to setting up a specialty. Nurse practitioners must have a master's degree to be licensed. Midwives too are following the career path of advanced nursing practice. By the year 2010 only masters prepared midwives can be credentialed by the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM). You need this accreditation for licensed practice in hospitals, homes, and birthing clinics, in most states.
Becoming a master's prepared certified nurse midwife is an excellent career choice. Going through the university program offers not only legality to practice in all states, insurance coverage, possible prescription authority, but career flexibility and choices. It isn't an impossible dream for you; it can be done in stages. You can even look at the apprentice route as one of those stages, although it may be the longer way after all.
The apprentice midwife
Apprentice midwife is a midwife who becomes so without formal college or institutional training. They are sometimes called "direct entry" midwife. The student trains with experienced midwives as they practice. Real life on the job training. Prior to universities, most skills utilized apprentices as assistants helping them enter the profession. Non academic fields (e.g. carpentry, tattoo artistry) continue this tradition. An uncertified or unlicensed apprentice midwife may be known as a lay midwife.
The apprentice midwife and certification.
Once you have found a midwife to train with, completing your training with her or several others, you must pass one of 2 certification exams. Not all states accept certain certification for midwives. Think about where you might live or what the law is where you now live to know if you will be able to practice and which exam you might take.
If you are an apprentice midwife with no degree you can be certified by The North American Registry of Midwives (NARM). You are now a professional midwife (CPM). CPMs are recognized by only 17 states to provide prenatal, postnatal, and birth care. Apprentice midwives usually perform low risk home births in these states.
If you have a college degree, not in nursing, complete your apprenticeship, pass the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) exam, you are called a certified midwife (CM).
Because education is ongoing and laws change, become refined, or standardized, you may often return to formal schooling for further credentialing in order to keep your position, find a new one, or move to another state.
The nurse-midwife is university trained
Your other option is to begin your education with a nursing degree. This is a registered nurse (RN) attained either by a 2 year college program or a 4 year university track. You can work as a nurse in labor and delivery if you wish, honing your skills before entering a graduate program. Some nursing programs will fast track you into the midwife program directly from the nursing program. Check out available options as well as scholarships.
The advanced specialty study of nurse midwifery combines a structured clinical preceptor- ship plus classroom education. The clinical practice part is the same idea as the midwife apprenticing done in some states.
You will also learn to prescribe and manage family planning and fertility. Upon passing the ACNM certification exam, you are a dual licensed professional recognized in all states. Your practice is varied and can be in clinics, hospitals, universities, or home delivery.
As long as women continue to have babies, women (and men- 2% of midwives are men) will continue to support each other through the process. You are a part of that process. Congratulations.
