Suggestions for home study to become midwife?

[earthknitter]

I have been to NARM's website and others, but the MEAC schools cost a fortune, is this the only way to home study? I am in Virginia and it does'nt seem I'll ever find help with this! I've been interested in midwifery for three years, but no luck! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[pamamidwife]

you should check out Ancient Art Midwifery Institute - it's highly respected, VERY comprehensive and will more than prepare you for the written piece of the NARM exam.

http://www.ancientartmidwifery.com/

[Maggi315]

Do you need MEAC approved? What about the midwives school in utah. they are reasonably priced and I have heard good things, I am thinking of doing my masters degree.

I also do a program called midwife to be out of south carolina, the name of the woman who runs it escapes me right now, but you can probably google it or look on here or midwifery today. (if you go to forums in midwiferytoday.com there are discussions on this issue)

[Reha]

Originally Posted by pamamidwife

you should check out Ancient Art Midwifery Institute - it's highly respected, VERY comprehensive and will more than prepare you for the written piece of the NARM exam.

http://www.ancientartmidwifery.com/

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[earthknitter]

I have checked out Ancient Arts, the price is very reasonable, I am definitely leaning towards it.......thanks for the sc midwife to be tip, I'll check it out! It does'nt have to be MEAC approved, since I can go through NARM after studies, etc, from my understanding. I live in VA so it is hard to know what steps I can take!

[MidwifeErika]

I am in AAMI and I am enjoying it so far. It is a tough decision to make and last year I was trying to figure out for sure which program to go with. It was kind of confusing and there is so much info out there, but I heard such wonderful, wonderful things about AAMI that really sealed the deal for me.

[mwherbs]

start with the above reading list- in the sticky --try to find someone else or a couple people who would be into learning and form a study group- get a good medical dictionary and also start doing some online research- I found it useful to really look at and look up situations that other women had-- in more recent years I have filled out with more info on "core" topics- like vitamin K, Rh not just reading the popular press, popular opinion,or popular medical opinion but what scientific studies there are out and what it might mean- try to find a mw or 2 to help out and learn some physical skills from, and maybe who would teach a class or 2 on something-- or even find a retired midwife and see if she might teach some theory or atleast tell stories... when I started out how I learned to do BP with no one teaching me was to take my bp cuff with me to meetings and ... I found this out by accident after I had bought cuff and stethoscope and brought it in to show a friend at a food buying group meeting, people around noticed I had it and asked if I would take their bp- I said I was just learning and they said ok- and I soon had a line of people wanting me to "practice" on them

[earthknitter]

love the advice! I've always got my nose in a book, so I am going to find some more, I have read some wrote by midwives on their experiences and opinions...it's all so interesting. I think I have been scared to read anything medical in case of the material being wrong. But I think I have gotten that fear from my OB!

[earthknitter]

Is the AAMI possible to do with little ones?

[mwherbs]

I like oxhorn and foote
I like Midwife's handbook by Constance Sinclair -- her book has a great deal of alternative stuff in it- not a perfect alternative text but for a conventional hand book much further down that road than Varney--
sure I understand about the medical stuff- I guess finding older midwives who have some midwifery theory--- because much of what we do is start with a theory difference from what doctors do - but much of the info is described and named by docs--and medical research.
When I was learning I contacted regional midwives and put together little "mini-conferences" many times a mw has a subject she may want to teach- this was not done in homes and costs were covered and a small stipend for the teachers...

[Charmie981]

http://www.newlifehomebirth.com/midwifetobe2.htm

that's the link for the Midwife to Be program that Barb mentioned. I really like the look of it and have suggested it to some of the students who have asked me this question. It looks affordable, completable, practical, and educational.

It's important to know that no matter what program you do, nothing will give you a "complete" midwifery education...any program is just a launching point for you to continue to learn more throughout your practice.

[Changed]

Is the midwife to be course MEAC approved?
How does it stack up to AAMI?

http://www.midwiferycollege.org/

I've heard this is the best and most expensive course but one you can get grants for. Has anyone done this one or know anything about it?

[MidwifeErika]

Originally Posted by earthknitter

Is the AAMI possible to do with little ones?

Totally. It is distance and self paced. I have kids ages 5, 3, and 1. I enrolled in AAMI last fall and am just going at my own speed.... which is about like a turtle

You don't have to have a preceptor to do the work for AAMI, which is great if you know that you won't be doing your apprenticeship until much later (at least one distance program I had looked into required that you were currently in an apprenticeship).

[teachinmaof3]

No, Midwife-To-Be is not MEAC approved.

I'm on the 2nd unit of MTB. So far I LOVE it!!!

[Midwife Kris]

Originally Posted by Jörð

Is the midwife to be course MEAC approved?
How does it stack up to AAMI?

http://www.midwiferycollege.org/

I've heard this is the best and most expensive course but one you can get grants for. Has anyone done this one or know anything about it?

You can't get a grant for NCM because it's not designated in whatever the eligible DOE category is. The price is comparable to other distance based programs (like Midwives College of Utah, National Midwifery Institute). The price is set for the school admission and they have a recommended fee to pay a preceptor but that fee is a private agreement made separately between you and the preceptor, documented with the college. There is a thread somewhere recently with a lot of Q&A about this school. I graduated from it while I lived in Colorado (just moved to CA).

Seattle Midwifery School is the most expensive but they are in the DOE category that you can get grants/loans for; while NCM has a loan agreement set up through Key Bank that you can apply for to pay your bill.

[MidwifeErika]

Just wanted to add that AAMI does run discounts, so if you are thinking about going that route, there is a yahoo group that you can join that Carla will put the specials out on. I started during a special and saved $1000 off my tuition. Also, Carla does different payment plans, which does make it much more affordable. So, it is like an interest free loan.

Not that I am trying to push you to go AAMI, just these are the extra thoughts that are floating in my head this morning

[Peppamint]

I put all the books on the Midwife To Be reading list plus a ton of other books I've seen on Amazon.com on my To Be Read list. I've been slowly accumulating all those books...

I'm still pretty undecided on which schooling route I'll take. I'm considering AAMI or Michigan School of Traditional Midwifery but depending on things pan out in the next few years, I may just self-study and look for an apprenticeship and go the old fashioned route to taking the NARM.

[SimplyRochelle]

The one that I just enrolled in is called the South Carolina School of Midwifery. I was impressed when talking to them because she said that every one of their students that went on to finish their apprenticeship passed the NARM. I also like it because you don't have to have a large chunk of cash to start out, since that's never just lying around. It's $100 to register and then $50 a lesson after that. They reccommend that you complete 2 a month and at that rate I think they said it will take 3 years. It sounds more open and possible to do with little ones running around.

www.scschoolofmidwifery.com

[merrijayne]

Does the midwife to be program offer some type of diploma certificate.

[terrordactyl]

Originally Posted by pamamidwife

you should check out Ancient Art Midwifery Institute - it's highly respected, VERY comprehensive and will more than prepare you for the written piece of the NARM exam.

http://www.ancientartmidwifery.com/

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