"We have a secret in our culture...and it's not that birth is painful. It's that women are strong." - Laura Stavoe Harm
Beth Anne Moonstone, Director, Midwife , CPM
37 Thayer Street Amherst, MA 01002
413.230.3918 email: beth at womancraft.org
The WomanCraft Midwifery Education Program
Our 1-year midwifery course is offered as both a local workshop option and as a in a distance education format. It is highly recommended that perspective students within 5 hours of Amherst, MA consider the local option course. The hands-on and in class time are extremely helpful to your study. Those that are further away should choose the distance option. It is recommended that distance students begin making connections with local midwives in the community and seek out opportunities for hands-on skills and attending births in their community.
WomanCraft blends a holistic woman-centered, family-center philosophy of care with in-depth academic knowledge, technical and experiential hands-on skills, and clinical research. Our programs are designed to provide a strong foundation for aspiring midwives and apprenticing midwives. WomanCraft honors and encourages the tradition of apprenticeship within midwifery.
WomanCraft programs provide a strong academic foundation for those seeking to become traditional homebirth midwives. We believe that there are many paths to midwifery and many different types of midwives. WomanCraft honors student midwives from a wide range backgrounds and seeks to support them in their path towards midwifery. In addition to your academic training you will also need to complete an apprenticeship period with a senior midwife. WomanCraft can not provide or guarantee apprenticeships.
Our program follows the core competency document designed by the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) as the standard body of knowledge necessary for the entry level midwife. Students can elect to work towards the national certification of Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) through the National Registry of Midwives (NARM). Students would need to complete additional clinical hours, requirements and an apprenticeship for the PEP process. Please see the NARM Website for more information
Program Objectives:
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To provide a nourishing interactive learning environment for women to study holistic midwifery including midwifery art, academic, technical and clinical knowledge.
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To preserve the apprenticeship model of training and the age old tradition of woman to woman, mother to mother passage of knowledge
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To provide affordability, structure and a format that allows women from diverse backgrounds, ages, family status and financial status a route to study midwifery.
Current Programs
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WomanCraft Local Midwifery Course - in Amherst, MA - next class begins March 10, 2012 - includes Doula and CBE Certification
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WomanCraft Distance Midwifery Course - enrollment is ongoing - additional option to ad on Doula Certification
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WomanCraft Beginning Midwifery Retreat - April 18th - 20th 2012
For a detailed information on these courses including a brochure and outline or to register for a program click here
Both the local and online version of our Midwifery Course use the Moodle online learning platform and WIZIQ tools to provide an interactive learning environment. Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is a Free web application that educators can use to create effective online learning sites. You can learn a little more about Moodle by watching this video or by visiting Moodle.org WIZIQ is virtual classroom software that works right from within the Moodle platform, allowing us to meet a wide range of learning styles. You can learn more about WIZIQ here or at thier website WizIQ.com
You can also check out our Intoduction Information for our online class at WIZIQ or view our Intro Presentation here
Midwifery Definitions
Direct Entry Midwifery
Typically Direct Entry Midwives (DEM) attend women who seek to give birth at home. Midwives of this nature are usually deeply connected to their community and have strong ties with other parents, providers, and midwives within their community. A Direct-Entry Midwife is an independent practitioner. DEMs acquire their skills through apprenticeships with other midwives, self study, and/or through a structured midwifery school or program. Midwives are specialists in normal pregnancy, labor and birth. Direct entry midwives carefully screen their clients for risk factors and encourage them to seek physician backup when needed. DEMs also are trained to recognize complications and call for assistance when necessary. A Direct-Entry Midwife is trained to provide continuous quality care (see Midwifery Model of Care below) to healthy women and newborns throughout the childbearing years. CPM are direct entry midwives but not all direct entry midwives choose to be CPMs.
Certified Professional Midwife - (definition courtesy of MANA -see http://www.mana.org)
A Certified Professional Midwife is an independent practitioner who has met the standards for certification set by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and is qualified to provide the Midwifery Model of Care. The NARM certification process recognizes multiple routes of entry into midwifery and includes verification of knowledge and skills and the successful completion of both a Written Examination and a Skills Assessment. The CPM credential requires training in out- of-hospital births. (MANA 9/5/96)
Midwifery Model of Care(definition courtesy of MANA -see http://www.mana.org)
The Midwifery Model of Care is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life events. The Midwifery Model of Care includes: monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well- being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle; providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support; minimizing technological interventions; and identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention. The application of this woman-centered model has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.(MANA 5/15/96)
