Two questions for Senior Apprentice Midwives [Archive]

Levatrice

10-14-2005, 03:54 PM

I (finally) feel motivated to get my clinicals wrapped up. After I had my dd I went into hibernation and now I am ready to come out of it. :LOL

Anyway, I have an interview tonight for a client of my own (primary under supervision) but I'm wondering a couple of things.

1. For those of you who have business cards: What do they say? My current cards just say Apprentice Midwife and Birth Assistant but I'm wondering if I should upgrade them to indicate that I can have my own clients under supervision.

2. How do you bring in your own clients? As in how do you attract them? My preceptor doesn't do any advertising so I can go through her but I would like some more clients.

Any input is welcome!

TIA!

Defenestrator

10-14-2005, 11:04 PM

I have 8 clients right now that I am taking care of with supervision by two senior midwives in my community. These women consider me to be their midwife, knowing where I am with my training and what kind of help I am getting from other midwives and so I figure that I can use the title as well. In your state there may be restrictions on who can use the term "midwife." In my state, things are a little grey right now on that topic.

One nice thing that my senior midwives did is send out an announcement with the invitations to our annual summer picnic for clients saying that I was taking over the practice (they are retiring) and would be practicing under supervision. So, based on that flier, three former clients asked me to help them with their new babies.

The other clients came from various places. One was referred by a CNM friend who knew that her client really wanted a homebirth. A couple came from a playgroup that a former client belonged to (and she is pregnant again as well), one came from a listing in a childbirth advocacy group's provider listing, and one was a support person at another homebirth I attended.

You may want to look and see if there is anywhere that you can put your name on local, regional, or national lists of midwives. If you are thinking about continuing with private practice, you might consider getting a business phone and your own yellow pages listing (if that is common for midwives in your area). Tell all of your friends that you have made this step. You never know when one of them might talk to a newly pregnant woman. If you participate in local email groups (like I subscribe to a local group for parents and a local group for childbirth professionals) put something in your signature line about your new status. You might also consider doing a little teaching, either for free or for pay. I have taught fertility classes and that has helped promote my other childbirth-related businesses. I have thought about doing homebirth classes for siblings. Offer to do a guest speaker night for local childbirth educators. Anything that introduces you to people in the community who are connected to other people who might want your services is good.

Good luck!