Coursework- Student Midwife

BIOL 2010: Genetics
This course covers basic genetic principles including the structure of DNA and genes, principles of inheritance and the origins of
genetic malfunction. It provides the foundation by which the student can research genetic problems, explain them to a client and
counsel the client or refer the client for more in-depth counseling.

CLNC 2040: Phase Two Practicum
Students assist approved preceptors with appropriate prenatal, labor and birth, postpartum and newborn care duties and reflect on
these experiences, linking knowledge or skills acquired in assistant experiences with knowledge acquired in phase two of study,
including current research in the field. Students evaluate learning gained from assistant clinical experiences. Students should plan
to spend a minimum of 80 hours in clinical placement during the trimester (an average of about 5.33 hours/week). By the end of
the term you enroll in this class, you should have at least 20 assist birth numbers to be on track to complete your phase. This is not
required but listed as information to help you decide on clinical class enrollment.

MDWF 2035: Complications of Human Lactation
This course covers complications of lactation in more depth than MDWF 1030. Breastfeeding/chestfeeding problems such as low
milk supply, mastitis, thrush, tongue-tie/lip-tie, Reynaud’s syndrome, and others will be covered. Case studies, class engagement,
readings, reflection, and practice documents are utilized to demonstrate the application of clinical judgment and management within
the scope of care of the Certified Professional Midwife

MDWF 2040: Postpartum Care
This course provides instruction in understanding, preparing for and meeting the normal physiological and emotional changes that
may occur in the postpartum period. It includes what to do in the first few hours after birth as well as providing excellent care and
record keeping in the subsequent postpartum care visits. Case studies are utilized to demonstrate the application of clinical judgment
and management within the scope of care of the Certified Professional Midwife.

MDWF 2050: Pediatrics
This course is specifically designed to explore the anatomy and physiology of the newborn from birth through eight weeks. Students
will understand normal and abnormal findings. Assessment, age-appropriate strategies, and cultural differences will be discussed.
Current research will be reviewed by participants to enhance the midwife’s care of the neonate and case studies will be utilized.

MDWF 2070: Obstetrical Pharmacology
This course will focus on the medications, both prescribed and available over the counter, that midwives will encounter when
providing care for clients and newborns during the antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum periods. The course will introduce the
ways in which pregnancy impacts the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs and the actions of these drugs in
the body. Protocols for both common and life-saving medications will be developed to assist you in caring for your clients.

CLNC 2030: Phase Two Practicum
Students assist approved preceptors with appropriate prenatal, labor and birth, postpartum and newborn care duties and reflect on
these experiences, linking knowledge or skills acquired in assistant experiences with knowledge acquired in phase two of study,
including current research in the field. Students evaluate learning gained from assistant clinical experiences. Students should plan
to spend a minimum of 80 hours in clinical placement during the trimester (an average of about 5.33 hours/week). By the end of the
term you enroll in this class, you should have at least 14 assist birth numbers to be on track to complete your phase. This is not
required but listed as information to help you decide on clinical class enrollment.

COMM 2010: Providing Trauma Informed Care
This course will explore the impacts of trauma and traumatic stress on childbearing people. This course included midwives’ unique
role in providing trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions, promoting resilience for persons with a history of
trauma, supplying supportive care for those experiencing current trauma, and promoting appropriate support for families
experiencing parent, fetal, or newborn death. Learners explore clinical best practices, tools, policies, and procedures that promote
trauma-sensitive and culturally safe care for midwives and clients.

HLTH 2010: Homeopathy
This course gives students an understanding of the origins of homeopathy, how disease is manifested, how to take a case, how to
prioritize the signs and symptoms, and how to prepare and administer homeopathic remedies. It will also introduce many remedies
useful in the practice of midwifery.

MDWF 2020: Prenatal Care II: Prenatal Care for a Healthy Pregnancy
This course focuses on various elements of promoting a healthy pregnancy and caring holistically for clients. Students will create
client educational materials or prenatal care plans which address nutritional, physical, environmental, emotional, social and sexual needs, changes and risks during pregnancy. Students will develop practice guidelines for several common disorders, diseases and infections during pregnancy. Case studies are utilized to demonstrate the application of clinical judgment and management within
the scope of care of the Certified Professional Midwife. The following topics are examined as they relate to pregnancy: exercise, weight gain, herbs, tobacco exposure and cessation, optimal fetal positioning, glucose metabolism, and gestational diabetes screening. The course also introduces students to some complications of pregnancy they will revisit in later courses. Other topics
explored include late term and post term pregnancy, urinary tract infections, environmental hazards and illnesses caused by
environmental exposures, fifth disease, infectious disease reporting, unintended or mistimed pregnancies, abuse during pregnancy
and substance use. Additional consideration is given to adolescent pregnancy, advanced parental age, grand multiparity, excess weight, and care of persons from populations on the margins such as those impacted by racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance, homophobia, transphobia, sizism, classism or other differentisms. Students will explore how to help foster their client’s wellbeing and resilience through a focus on emotional health, psychosocial care, cultural humility, and structural competency.

MDWF 2030: Labor, Birth, and Immediate Postpartum
Physiology and management of first, second and third stages of labor are taught. Students also learn about the mechanism of labor for occiput anterior, transverse, posterior, face, brow, military, and breech presentations. Case studies are utilized to demonstrate the application of clinical judgment and management within the scope of care of the Certified Professional Midwife.

STAT 2010: Principles of Evidence
This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of research literacy and evidence-informed practice. An evidence-informed
practice framework facilitates shared-decision making, advances informed choice, and improves client-centered midwifery care. Also called “evidence-based practice” or “evidence-based care or medicine”, an evidence-informed practice (EIP) framework rests in the triad intersection between the best available research with your professional expertise as the midwife alongside the client’s
individual values, needs, and context. Upon completion of this course, students will be equipped with the basic conceptual and practical skills necessary to enact evidence-informed practice frameworks as Midwives of Excellence℠.

CLNC 2010: Phase Two Practicum
Students assist approved preceptors with appropriate prenatal, labor and birth, postpartum and newborn care duties and reflect on
these experiences, linking knowledge or skills acquired in assistant experiences with knowledge acquired in phase two of study,
including current research in the field. Students evaluate learning gained from assistant clinical experiences. Students should plan
to spend a minimum of 80 hours in clinical placement during the trimester (an average of about 5.33 hours/week).

CLNC 2020: Phase Two Practicum
Students assist approved preceptors with appropriate prenatal, labor and birth, postpartum and newborn care duties and reflect on
these experiences, linking knowledge or skills acquired in assistant experiences with knowledge acquired in phase two of study,
including current research in the field. Students evaluate learning gained from assistant clinical experiences. Students should plan
to spend a minimum of 80 hours in clinical placement during the trimester (an average of about 5.33 hours/week).

MDWF 2010: Prenatal Care I: Foundations of Prenatal Care
This course focuses on the basics of prenatal care from establishing initial contact, taking a thorough client history, initiating ongoing
prenatal care, evaluation of the pregnant person and the fetus, addressing common discomforts and physiological changes of
pregnancy, and recognizing when referral is indicated. With the midwifery model of care and an individualized approach, students
will develop a portfolio of chart forms for routine prenatal care, client handouts, several practice guidelines, and the NARM Informed
Disclosure of Midwifery Practice. Case studies are utilized to demonstrate the application of clinical judgment and management
within the scope of practice of the Certified Professional Midwife

SOSC 2010: Cultural Safety in Midwifery Care
Building off a foundation of equity, anti-oppression, and culturally safe care from SOSC 1010, students will further explore
difference, power, and privilege as it relates specifically to midwifery care provided in the childbearing year. Students will strengthen
the skills necessary to provide non-discriminatory, equitable, and safe care to all clients. This course will do a deep dive into the
impact to clients in the clinical setting associated with racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, ageism, and
discrimination associated with relationship status and immigration status. The course will explore systems of impact in midwifery
and how to engage within those systems to facilitate change that increases safety. Throughout the course, BIPOC and LGBTQ+
midwives who are doing the work of serving clients on the ground, and the organizations serving these midwives will be highlighted
to demonstrate the effectiveness of evidence based culturally concordant care

SOSC 3080: Spanish for Midwives
The purpose of this course is to help students and practicing midwives develop basic oral Spanish speaking skills. The activities of
this class will focus on vocabulary, listening, and conversation practices related to midwifery care. Learners will also have the
opportunity to get a glimpse of the Hispanic culture. Please note that this course will not teach English grammar, reading or writing
skills.

CLNC 1050: Phase One Competencies
Students demonstrate practical skills and competencies necessary to begin assisting a midwife and prepare for Phase One Assessment. Clinical Competency classes are required during the final trimester of a Phase and may not be extended.

HLTH 1030: Foundations in Public Health and Health Education for Midwives
This course will introduce students to foundational concepts in Public Health and taught to apply Public Health theory to midwifery practice. Maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality will be discussed from a Public Health perspective and students will identify interventions in the intersection of the fields of Midwifery and Public Health. Students will learn about health inequities and will have the opportunity to perform in-depth analysis of a selected health inequities. The health care and public health system, resources for mothers and babies, and the role of midwives in the broader system will be analyzed. Students will learn techniques in shared decision making and health education and will gain competency in these areas through case studies and an oral presentation.

HLTH 2030: Fertility Awareness
Students learn how to instruct women regarding their fertility as it applies to their menstrual cycles, basal body temperature and cervical changes.

MDWF 1040: IV Skills
This course covers the basics of IVs, both academic and hands-on.  Objectives include indication for IV therapy in childbirth, types of fluids, and proper technique in starting, administering, and discontinuing IVs, as well as proper charting.  

MDWF 1050: Midwife’s Assistant Orientation
This course helps student midwives prepare to become efficient, trustworthy and competent assistants.  This course is designed to give the student an understanding of the requirements and duties of a midwife’s assistant.  After having completed this course, students will be prepared with the theoretical background necessary for her clinical practicum. Students will understand the scope and principles of general skills used in a prenatal setting and will explore the role of the assistant through case studies.

BOTNY 1010: Herbology for Midwives
This course will guide aspiring midwives in acquiring knowledge and experience in the herbal healing arts for
people in the childbearing year. Incorporating texts rich with applicable knowledge, students will apply their studies to hands on experience incorporating fieldwork in identifying, harvesting & preserving plants, creating multiple herbal remedies, growing plants, taking herbal walks, creating a resource of plant profiles, exploring herbal applications for midwifery practice and culminating in a final project that fits the student’s pathway.

CLNC 1010: Phase One Practicum
Students submit at least ten observe births (signed by a witness) and describe in writing one case linking knowledge or skills acquired in observed birth experiences with knowledge acquired in the first year of study, specifically the Midwives Model of Care. Students evaluate the learning gained from observed birth experiences and begin to work towards Phase II clinical placements.

HIST 1010: History of Midwifery
The purpose of this course is to give students an overview of the history of midwifery, from ancient times through the present.

MDWF 1030: Human Lactation
Students will learn about the historical and cultural
background of human lactation, anatomy and physiology of lactation, human milk and the infant, the infant feeding process, and possible problems.

SOSC 1010: Equity and Anti-Oppression in Midwifery Care: Understanding Difference, Power, & Privilege
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the foundational concepts of equity, anti-oppression, and cultural humility in midwifery care, and to engage critical learning of how difference, power, discrimination, and privilege intersect to produce documented disparities in perinatal health outcomes and practices in the United States. Students will have the opportunity to study and explore three broad areas of cultural humility, equity and (anti)oppression practices, and their impact on maternity care through historical and current
sociopolitical frameworks: 1) Social identities, racism, and
privilege; 2) Health disparities, inequities, and inequalities; and 3) Cultural humility and equity care models. Collectively, students will acquire foundational skills necessary for the provision of culturally safe care and the actualization of antioppression midwifery professional practices—in commitment to access and equity in perinatal health for all childbearing persons.

BIOL 1050: Anatomy and Physiology of Obstetrics
This course covers pelvic bones, joints, ligaments and
classifications, musculature of pelvic floor and perineum,
fetal skull, fetopelvic relationships, reproductive organs, the reproductive cycle, natural child spacing, fertilization and early development, fetal circulation and the female urinary tract.

ENGL 1050: Technical Writing for Midwives
Students will practice the writing skills necessary for
midwives including creating research papers based on
primary sources, practice guidelines, client educational
materials, and business letters. There is a strong emphasis on APA format and style. Students will begin ongoing creation of their ePortfolio. Course emphasizes peer-review partnering and giving/receiving feedback on academic writing and APA.

COMM 1010: Mindset & Dialogue in Relationship,
Organization, and Community Transformation
COMM 1010 explores the way in which we think about and see others (mindset), and our ability to develop and maintain the free flow of information (dialogue) is fundamental to effectiveness, productivity, and satisfaction in our work environments, the communities we live and serve in, and our intimate relationships. Students will learn the models, tools, and skills to engage in an “Outward Mindset,” and successfully navigate “Crucial Conversations” in work and private life.

MDWF 1010: Introduction to Midwifery
This course will provide the learner with a foundational
understanding of childbirth as a human right. Students will examine models of care that work, diving deeply into
understanding the Medical Model and the four tenets of the Midwifery Model of Care. The current care system will be examined for its flaws with an eye toward effective change with a focus on the safety of out-of-hospital birth. Students will interact with local midwives and OB/Dr.’s and begin to build relationships within their community. Disparities in childbirth will be explored and students will emerge from this course understanding the power, value and importance of access to midwifery care for all who choose this maternity care option.