Course FAQ WomanCraft Midwifery Education Understanding the different types of midwives Paths to midwifery education Course expectations Getting started

Midwifery definitions Direct Entry Midwifery Direct Entry Midwives (DEM) attend women who seek to give birth at home. Sometimes they also work in freestanding birth centers. Midwives of this nature are usually deeply connected to their community and have strong ties with other parents, providers, and midwives within their community. A Direct-Entry Midwife is an independent practitioner. DEMs acquire their skills through apprenticeships with other midwives, self study, and/or through a structured midwifery school or program. Midwives are specialists in normal pregnancy, labor and birth. Direct entry midwives carefully screen their clients for risk factors and encourage them to seek physician backup when needed. DEMs also are trained to recognize complications and call for assistance when necessary. A Direct-Entry Midwife is trained to provide continuous quality care (see Midwifery Model of Care below) to healthy women and newborns throughout the childbearing years. CPM are direct entry midwives but not all direct entry midwives choose to be CPMs. To become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) direct entry midwives are required to complete the Portflio Evaluation Process through NARM and is required to work with a mentor who is a CPM or CNM.

Certified Professional Midwife - (definition courtesy of MANA -see A Certified Professional Midwife is an independent practitioner who has met the standards for certification set by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and is qualified to provide the Midwifery Model of Care. The NARM certification process recognizes multiple routes of entry into midwifery and includes verification of knowledge and skills and the successful completion of both a Written Examination and a Skills Assessment. The CPM credential requires training in out- of-hospital births. (MANA 9/5/96)

Midwifery Model of Care (definition courtesy of MANA -see The Midwifery Model of Care is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life events. The Midwifery Model of Care includes: monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well- being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle; providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support; minimizing technological interventions; and identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention. The application of this woman-centered model has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.(MANA 5/15/96)

Traditional Midwifery & Midwifery Politics Midwives have assisted women at birth through human history. The English term, midwife, means with woman. Midwifery is a tradition pasted from woman to woman through the ages all over the world. Currently there are a lot of politics around midwifery in the United States. Some states license direct entry midwives using the CPM credential. Other states have no laws or regulation about direct entry midwifery and in some states direct entry midwifery is illegal. So in some states direct entry midwives have to be CPMs to legally practice, in other states both DEMs and CPMs practice without regulation and in states where midwifery is illegal DEMs might (and often do) practice underground (illegally). The CPM credential was initially design to be a standard of entry level education for midwives. The push for professionalism, regulation and acceptance by the mainstream medical community is changing the CPM credential requirements to be more an more exclusive and to require student midwives only preceptor with CPM or CNMs. Some states even require students to attend a MEAC Midwifery School and do not allow the PEP process. You can check out the state laws here

Being the best midwife you can be All the labels and concern about professionalism has a negative side effect of midwives arguing amongst themselves rather than standing in support of midwifery as a whole. An entry level of education is a good idea. Throughout history this was part of the process of apprenticeship. Students learned from other midwives, slowly they took on more responsibility and eventually they began practicing on their own with the support of their mentor. At WomanCraft we work hard to support and preserve the tradition of apprenticeship. Our program is designed to provide a strong academic foundation in midwifery and childbirth for student midwives pursuing the apprenticeship route. There are many paths to becoming a midwife. No one path works for everyone and no one is the right midwife for every woman. Diversity within midwifery is a gift we should honor. We encourage our students first and foremost to focus on being the best MIDWIVES they can be. Whether you choose to become a CPM, a DEM, go on to nursing school to be a CNM or work in another childbirth related profession the first focus should be on learning midwifery in-depth, developing skills that use head, heart and hands and growing your knowledge base.

The PEP Process If you decide to become a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) you will need to complete an apprenticeship period with a senior midwife who is a CPM or a CNM. You would work through a process called the Portfolio Evaluation Process (PEP). Through the PEP process you keep a portfolio of your education, skills experience and the work you complete and births/prenatals you attend during your apprenticeship. You submit this portfolio to NARM and once it is accepted you may sit for the NARM exam to attain the CPM credential. Many of our students at WomanCraft, though not all, go on to pursue the PEP process and become CPMs. You can get more information on the PEP process at to-become-a-cpm/

How the Midwifery Course works Both the online and local option of the WomanCraft Midwifery Course have an online portion that consists of 9 study modules. Students complete these modules at their own pace over the course of months. The modules cover The Life of a Midwife Prenatal Care 2 nd and 3 rd Trimester Anatomy for Midwifes Labwork Normal Birth Newborn Care, Postpartum Care Complications and Alternative Presentations.

How the Midwifery Course works Each course module contains a reading assignment from your textbooks, several written assignments and projects to complete. In addition there are videos, slide shows and links to internet resources for each module. Students submit their work via attachments, postal mail or in person (for the local class). The coursework is carefully balanced to be a combination of textbook academics and project based learning. Everyone learns in a different way and over the years we have develop a program designed to help aspiring midwives with a wide range of background and learning styles to study midwifery. Students are encouraged to build on their strengths, go out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves.

How the Midwifery Course works All students enrolled at WomanCraft have access to our online chat area and can text or video chat with other students (or teachers) to build a supportive learning community, ask questions, share ideas and work on course material together. Students will also be added to our list for updates, workshop information and so that students can share midwifery related information with one another.

The LOCAL option For students that live within a 4-5 hours drive of WomanCraft (Amherst, MA) we recommend the LOCAL option. In addition to the online modules LOCAL students attend workshops one Saturday a month for 10 months. These local workshops offer valuable in-person classroom time and the opportunity to practice and learn hands-on midwifery skills. The workshops allow students to develop connections with other student midwives. Students in the LOCAL option learn hands-on skills such as taking medical histories, physical exams, charting, palpating a baby's position, listening to baby with fetoscope, prenatal exams, vaginal exams, pap smears, venipuncture, hemoglobin testing, placenta examination, using midwifery equipment, oxygen setup and use, birth roleplay and roleplaying complications.

How to Register The ONLINE option costs $1500. The LOCAL option is $2250. To register for the program a deposit of $300. is required. Students may then choose to use our paypal subscription option for a monthly payment plan option ($120. for the online course and $195. for the local course). All tuition payments and deposits are non-refundable. If you think the WomanCraft Program is right for you please go to our website at and follow the links to register. If you want more information feel free to call us at