Clinical Training Program

Are you dreaming of becoming a midwife but having trouble obtaining clinical experience? Come to BetterBirth’s Student Midwife Program!

Our clinical program is designed to help you gain the experience you need to become an excellent midwife. It is based on the North American Registry of Midwives requirements to obtain the Certified Professional Midwife credential. In addition to the prenatal, labor and delivery, postpartum, and newborn experiences required for NARM, we teach, assess, and sign off skills in the Practical Skills Guide for Midwifery. and NARM's Comprehensive Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities Essential for Competent Midwifery Practice Verification Form 201.

Here are some examples of skills you can obtain through our program:

• Suturing
• Vaginal exams
• Artificial Rupture of Membranes
• IV placement
• Palpation
• Management of complications
• Various natural induction techniques
• Phlebotomy
• And many more!

We tailor our instruction to your specific needs, and work to enhance your skills in the most efficient way possible. We aim to provide not only sufficient numbers of experiences, but exceptional quality of experiences as well.

In our program you will gain experience in both the home and birth center settings under the tutelage of several outstanding midwives. We practice according to the midwives model of care, and our goal is to make every birth a great experience for the family involved. We express our gratitude to the families who are willing to help our students by keeping their quality of care our number one priority.

Our program is especially designed for students who need to obtain their clinical experience in short (albeit intense) visits, usually from 1 to 12 weeks at a time, although we also accept students for longer terms. We accept only two students at a time, one into the Active Participant track and one into the Primary track, to accommodate varied levels of experience. When you apply, we will perform a series of assessments to determine which track is most appropriate for you.

We normally deliver 12-20 babies a month, although the number can vary more widely. Our home births and some birth center births are private clients of our midwives, and you should not expect to serve in the role of primary at these births, although you will be expected to attend and assist even if you don’t “need” the experience for NARM. Those clients who have signed up for our student program deliver at the birthing center, and for these clients, students in the Primary track will provide care in the primary role under supervision within the limits of your competency (which we will be increasing day by day!).

Active Participant track students normally assist the Primary student or the Supervising Midwife, but may sometimes provide care as primary under supervision depending on the situation. You will also attend prenatal and postpartum visits, some in the assisting role, some as primary. We do not guarantee any particular number or any type of experience during your stay, but we will try very hard to get you what you need.

In addition to working with the midwives in our practice, other midwives in the community may call you to their home births. Some of these may be primaries, some may not, but they do give you a wide diversity of experience to learn from and draw upon in your own practice someday.