When I was considering becoming a midwife, there was more than one path I could take. As a doula, I had attended births where hands on skills were vital to a safe birth so I wanted to learn and feel proficient in those skills. I also knew I needed to have a much wider knowledge base to feel comfortable attending births. I had completed all the courses required to start nursing clinicals when I attended Kansas State University, and I had worked as a Certified Nurse's Aide so I had some basic health care skills and knowledge. That was a head start in being a midwife but it wasn't enough. I considered going back to college to become a Certified Nurse Midwife. That did not appeal to me at all. First, I had (and still have) serious reservations about having to comply with hospital and insurance constraints when serving women and thier babies during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Second, I had no desire to spend years of my life attending college when I could be learning and working with women right away. Third, I wanted to focus more on hands on practice and experience to compliment the abstract knowledge I would need to serve women well.
Apprenticing to become a Certified Professional Midwife was the right path for me. I loved that I could immediately begin developing and honing skills while learning the abstract knowledge I needed to understand pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Working in a home birth practice let me see the beauty and wisdom of natural birth. It also gave me the experience to become familiar with normal pregnancy, birth and postpartum which makes me better able to recognize when things fall outside of normal. My apprenticeship let me experience the true continuity of midwifery care, in real world practice, which semesters and a standardized curriculum cannot replicate. My apprenticeship was one of the most challenging and fulfilling things I have ever done. My apprenticeship didn't just help me become a midwife, it helped me grow as a person. That personal growth has served me well as a midwife.
Since Kansas does not have any credentialing for direct entry midwives, there is no test or assessment of skills to determine competency at the state level. I wanted something that showed I had met a baseline standard for midwifery care. I wanted my clients to know that I had taken on the responsibility to learn the skills and knowledge needed to be a midwife and that I had shown competence in them. I use the knowledge and skills I learned every time I serve a client and I still hear my preceptor's voice as I use those skills. I continue to learn and refine my current skills as well as add new skills. I am proud to have earned the national credential of CPM and I am proud to serve my clients within the framework of client centered, evidence based care that aligns with the Midwives Model of Care.
Apprenticing to become a Certified Professional Midwife was the right path for me. I loved that I could immediately begin developing and honing skills while learning the abstract knowledge I needed to understand pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Working in a home birth practice let me see the beauty and wisdom of natural birth. It also gave me the experience to become familiar with normal pregnancy, birth and postpartum which makes me better able to recognize when things fall outside of normal. My apprenticeship let me experience the true continuity of midwifery care, in real world practice, which semesters and a standardized curriculum cannot replicate. My apprenticeship was one of the most challenging and fulfilling things I have ever done. My apprenticeship didn't just help me become a midwife, it helped me grow as a person. That personal growth has served me well as a midwife.
Since Kansas does not have any credentialing for direct entry midwives, there is no test or assessment of skills to determine competency at the state level. I wanted something that showed I had met a baseline standard for midwifery care. I wanted my clients to know that I had taken on the responsibility to learn the skills and knowledge needed to be a midwife and that I had shown competence in them. I use the knowledge and skills I learned every time I serve a client and I still hear my preceptor's voice as I use those skills. I continue to learn and refine my current skills as well as add new skills. I am proud to have earned the national credential of CPM and I am proud to serve my clients within the framework of client centered, evidence based care that aligns with the Midwives Model of Care.
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