F A Q - About the Student Program

Are there any prerequisites?

Yes. We require that you:
1) Certify in Infant and Adult CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation before you arrive.
2) Complete an in-person doula/labor support program prior to arrival. To find doula courses in your area, consider contacting the following organizations:

• DONA
• ALACE
• CAPPA

3) Complete Awhonn's Introduction to Fetal Heart Monitoring Online course.
If you are having trouble completing these pre-requisites, contact us for assistance.

Do I have to be enrolled in a particular midwifery program to participate?

No. We accept students of all midwifery programs, including PEP, (NARM’s Portfolio Evaluation Process) students who are using alternative routes to certification.

How far in advance of my proposed placement should I apply?

As far as possible. It takes some time to perform the background check, as well as the assessments we require to place you in one of our experience tracks. Most importantly, because we limit the number of students we allow at a time, you will want to reserve your dates as early as possible. We do not allow holding of dates until your application is received, your assessments are complete, and your non-refundable deposit is paid.

How can I find out if the dates I want are available?

Check our Student Schedule.This calendar is the most up-to-date information we have on dates reserved by our students. If it shows it's available, then it is. Keep in mind, however, that date availability can change at any time as students complete their applications with us.

You can look for other dates or request to be put on our waiting list. In order to be placed on our waiting list you must have completed your application to the program and paid your application fee.

What if the dates I want are not available?

You can look for other dates or request to be put on our waiting list. In order to be placed on our waiting list you must have completed your application to the program and paid your application fee.

How short can I stay?

Our minimum stay is 1 week. We encourage you to stay as long as you can, however, because there is some ramp-up time and most students are barely hitting their stride at the end of a week. Besides, the longer you stay the more likely you will complete the number of experiences you are hoping for.

Can I do several short placements instead of one longer placement?

Yes. Our program is specially designed for students who need short placements. You may come back as many times as you wish, and generally, your tuition decreases each time you return.

How long should I expect it to take to reach my NARM requirements?

This is highly variable. It depends on your skill level on arrival and the track to which you are assigned, the number of clients we have due during your stay, and how well you perform. Between home births and birth center births, we average about 15 deliveries a month, though it can range from 10 to 30. Most students are able to fulfill their NARM requirements within 20 total weeks, but keep in mind that NARM requires that your experience span at least 1 calendar year.

What if I have completed some experience requirements in a local apprenticeship?

Excellent! We feel at least some amount of apprenticeship with a midwife in your home area is very desirable for students. Most of our students combine a local apprenticeship with short intensives with us. Of course, your local preceptor will sign off experiences that she supervises. We only sign off experiences we supervise. We will consider the number and type of experiences you have had in any other apprenticeships in placing you in an experience track in our program.

What are the assessments?

We will ask you to assess your own competence on a list of midwifery skills, and we also require that someone competent to assess you (such as a midwife you have been apprenticing with or one of your school progessors) also evaluate your competency on those skills. Not being competent at a skill does not preclude you from a placement with us. We’re here to teach you! However, the general picture of your competencies on all the skills will determine which track (Active Participant or Primary) you will qualify for.

What is the difference between the Active Participant and Primary tracks?

The Active Participant track is designed for midwives with less experience than those who qualify for the Primary track. As an Active Participant, you will begin by assisting the Primary track student and/or supervising midwife until you learn skills, and then you will begin to perform those skills with clients as your competency improves. You should not expect to function in the role of Primary Midwife Under Supervision as defined by NARM while in this track, although it is possible on occasion. This track is prepatory for the Primary track.

You will qualify for the Primary track when we feel your skills are such that you are ready to function in the role of Primary Midwife Under Supervision as defined by NARM. In this track, you will be expected to function as the primary midwife for all clients who have signed up for the student program, and as assistant to the midwife for private midwife clients.

Whichever track you are in, we will push you to develop and practice your skills and help you to achieve competency as quickly as possible. Our goal is to efficiently get you to excellence.

What if I already have all the Active Participant experiences I need?

That’s great. Hopefully our assessment of your skills will place you in the Primary track. But you’ll still be required to work in the active participant role some of the time you are with us, even if you qualify for the Primary track. You will definitely learn from these experiences, and can sign off a lot of skills while working as an assistant. Never turn away additional experience, even if it is not strictly “required” by NARM.

While we consider the number of active participant and primary experiences you have had in placing you in a track, that is not the sole determinant. Our primary concern is the welfare of our clients, and next comes our responsibility to help you become an excellent midwife. NARM’s requirements are only a guide in this effort. If we feel you need more Active Participant experience to achieve excellence, we will insist upon you obtaining it prior to placing you in the Primary track or allowing you to obtain primary experiences.

How can I maximize my experience?

Prepare. Read and digest our student handbook. We will not allow you to attend a birth until you know this material, so study it well before you arrive. Master as many skills and academics as you can before you arrive so you can advance quickly to new skills and responsibilities once you are here. Our goal is to help you achieve excellence as efficiently as possible, and we will tailor our teaching to your specific needs. The less we have to teach you and the more you are ready to do, the faster you will progress.

How do I get skills signed off?

To every skill there is an academic portion and a clinical portion. The clinical portion is the "how" to performing a skill. For example, the clinical portion of taking a blood pressure involves knowing where to place the cuff, how to inflate and deflate it properly, and how to read the blood pressure from those actions. The academic portion is what all that means. Suppose you get a blood pressure of 200/150. Is this a problem? What should you do about it? We expect you to obtain the academic portion of your skills training either in your midwifery program or by self-study. We can help direct you to resources if necessary. We require you to pass an assessment on each skill before we will teach you the clinical portion and sign you off. There is a defined process of teaching, observing, practicing, attempting under supervision and direction, passing another assessment, and finally performing the skill on your own (although supervised) that is required to sign off each skill.

Which skills (and how many of them) you sign off will depend greatly on you. We will expect you to take the initiative to take the assessments on the skills you want to master so that we can teach you the clinical portion. The more skills you are ready to do, the more we will teach you and help you practice. You are the driver in determining how fast you go.

What kind of documentation of experience or certification is available?

Our student program is designed to be an adjunct to other programs (including PEP) which provide the academic portion of your training. We will provide a written assessment of your skills and the number of experiences you have completed with us at the end of each stay with us, and we will initial NARM paperwork and other paperwork required by your school or program.

What language do the clients speak?

The vast majority of our clients are English-speakers, though occasionally we have a client whose primary language is Spanish, or, rarely, another language. There is no need for you to speak a language other than English during your placement.

What is the philosophy of care at BetterBirth?

We treasure our clients, and their welfare is our number one priority. We treat all clients with respect and concern for the birth experience they desire. We practice the midwifery model of care, which means we strive to minimize interventions, to fully inform clients, and to allow them full decision-making authority. We use all tools available to us to provide top-notch care, including herbs, homeopathics, allopathic medications, and many other modalities. We expect birth to be normal, but we are ever watchful for complications. When complications occur, we do our utmost to correct them and return to normal birth, or if we cannot return to normal birth, to provide the best care for the situation, whether that means dealing with the complication ourselves or transferring care to a medical provider.

Because we respect and care so much for our clients, we do not do "extra" interventions just because we have students who need to practice those interventions. We intervene only when necessary and as appropriate. We believe teaching you when not to intervene is as important as teaching you when to intervene. If you are unable to practice skills with clients because they are rarely needed, we will utilize other learning and assessment methods to help you get those skills signed off (such as simulations).

What is the philosophy toward students?

We treasure our students. Our goal is to provide you the most supportive and effective learning environment possible so that you can become a highly-skilled midwife. We focus on each student, tailoring our instruction, schedule, and assessments to exactly what you need. If you need more assistance with a particular skill, our supervising midwives will be advised and we will work with you to improve in that area. We do not engage in favoritism, embarrassment, harsh criticism, or any other form of negative feedback with our students. Our goal is to help you achieve excellence in every way we can.

Can I make my own housing arrangements?

Yes. However, we discourage you from staying with local families in trade for childcare or other such arrangements because we will expect you to be fully focused on your clinical experience and available at all times for births. We also require that you stay within 45 minutes of our clinical site so you can arrive in a reasonable time for births. There is no tuition discount for arranging your own housing.

Can I bring my family with me?

Yes, you can, but keep in mind that we expect you to be available at all times for births and on your regular clinic days. If you bring children you must bring at least one other adult to care for them while you are working with us. Family members (or non-family members) are not permitted to stay with you in the student apartment, so you will need to make other housing arrangements for them. You may stay with them there as long as you are within 45 minutes of the birth center. You may want to consider staying at Silver Mountain Suites in Provo or at ValuePlace in American Fork. If you plan to stay four weeks or longer, be sure to check with each facility about lower rates for longer stays that may not be listed on their website.

Can I make my own transportation arrangements?

In fact you must make your own transportation arrangements. We require that you have immediate access to a vehicle while in our program. If you will be driving to us from your home area (rather than flying), you will most likely want to use your own car while you are here. If you are flying, you will most likely want to rent a car. It is easiest to rent a car for pickup at the airport as we do not shuttle students. You are responsible for obtaining another vehicle if the one you are using breaks down.

Is childcare available?

No. While you are here, we expect you to be fully focused on your clinical experience. We do not provide time for sight-seeing or family responsibilities. We do not permit students’ children at our clinical facility.

What if I live in Utah?

If you live in Utah within 1 hour of our clinical site, you have the option of participating in our regular program, or taking a fill-in placement. When taking a fill-in placement, there is no tuition. You will be called to help with prenatal/postpartum visits and births during weeks where we do not have regular students in residence, or anytime we need more than the regular students we have (for example, if a regular student is ill and unable to participate, or we have multiple births at once). You will be invited to attend any skills workshops we are doing with regular students and may sign them off through this process, however we will not arrange special workshops/sign-offs for you as a fill-in student. This is definitely a slower way to obtain your experience, but it is tuition-free. Pre-requisites, immediate access to a vehicle, and assessment for track placement and skills workshops are the same as for the regular program.

Are there employment opportunities available?

During your stay as a student, we expect you to devote full time to learning. It is neither practical nor advisable to attempt employment during your placement. Although we do occasionally offer positions to those exceptional students who receive their CPM and qualify for licensure in Utah, you should not expect an offer of employment from us.