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MEAC-Accredited
Direct-Entry Midwifery Education
~ INNOVATIVE ~ ACCESSIBLE ~ EQUITABLE ~
NCM's affordable, self-paced, flexible, apprenticeship-based programs
are adaptable to the unique needs of the student and preceptor.
Students study in their own community or create a study plan
that allows them to travel to other cities or countries.
Our comprehensive academic and clinical programs result in either an
Associates Degree in Midwifery (ASM) or Bachelor of Science in Midwifery (BSM).
Students begin their program whenever they are ready with our rolling enrollment.
Our program supports students in one-on-one apprenticeships
as well as students in larger group study placements.
Our ASM program prepares students for state licensure and/or national certification
and our BSM program is customized for midwives who are already licensed and certified.
NCM understands that diverse learners have distinctive needs
Many midwifery students are juggling family life, financial responsibilities, and other interests that compliment their midwifery studies while completing NCM’s program. Students from different populations have varying hurdles to overcome in order to access midwifery education. Even those with life circumstances allowing them to focus all of their attention on their studies often hold rigorous clinical responsibilities.
This is why NCM has designed a program that allows for vast flexibility. With our rolling enrollment, students can start whenever they are ready. By choosing their own clinical preceptors, students can match their own unique educational needs and goals with their preceptors’ abilities, experience, and practices. The academic portion of NCM’s program is offered through a self-directed and self-paced distance learning program. Asynchronous online learning allows students to remain in their communities and maintain a schedule that is flexible and conducive with on-call clinical experience, family life, and varying life circumstances.
Student-Driven Midwifery Education
At NCM, we believe that midwifery students should have the chance to learn within the cultural context of the communities they choose to serve. That’s why we created a model where students choose their own clinical preceptors.
We also know that midwifery students have unique demands on their time and varying ways of learning. That’s why our program is self-paced and adaptable to many different lifestyles and ways of learning.
Studying midwifery is a huge life commitment. It shouldn’t have to also be a burdensome financial commitment. That’s why we’ve made our program as affordable as possible.
NCM encourages you
to stay grounded
in your own community
When students choose their clinical preceptors, it often allows for more continuity in students’ and their families’ lives by eliminating the need to uproot. Students who identify with and who understand the nuances of their community’s needs hold the insight and passion to effectively meet those needs. We believe that culturally competent relationships are one of the keys to bridging health disparities.
79% of NCM students have been able to stay within 100 miles of their community
68% of NCM students are staying to practice within 100 miles of their community
NCM is a community of passionate educators and learners
~ College Without Walls ~ Self Paced ~ Grounded in Community ~ Equity & Justice Lens ~
Pathways to Midwifery
Elizabeth Gilmore founded NCM as a larger expression of her conviction that, "We must remove barriers to midwifery education in order to improve outcomes for mothers and babies." Maternal health outcomes are affected by institutional racism and oppression. The value of providing accessible midwifery education to students from underserved populations is clear; our students identify with their own communities, understand the subtleties of their own people’s unique needs and hold the insight and the passion to effectively meet these needs. NCM is committed to making midwifery education as accessible as possible. Holding true to this ethic that midwifery knowledge should be common knowledge, NCM has always provided easy access to its academic curriculum, even for those not enrolled in a program. Click below to learn more about the various pathways and programs we offer.
Becoming a Midwife
What is a Midwife?
A midwife is a trained health professional who helps families during labor, delivery, and after the birth of their babies. They also care for the birthing person and infant in the first few weeks of life, providing routine newborn exams and lactation support. Midwives may also provide well-person reproductive health services.
A direct-entry midwife is a skilled and professional independent midwifery practitioner educated in the discipline of midwifery and trained to provide the Midwives Model of Care throughout the childbearing cycle, primarily in out-of-hospital community-based settings.
Apprenticeship as a Teaching Model
Midwifery apprenticeship refers to learning midwifery from an experienced midwife (or other approved obstetrical practitioner) who guides the student through clinical studies through supervised, direct participation in the preceptor's midwifery practice. This creates a rich and diverse learning environment. Our midwifery apprenticeship teaching model launches students into the real world of midwifery and prepares them to pursue the calling they have always dreamed of.
Midwifery Credentials
Direct-entry midwifery is distinctly different from the discipline of nursing. A Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) is a direct-entry midwife who has fulfilled the requirements and passed the national exam set forth by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM).
Distinct from CPMs, a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) first becomes a registered nurse and then seeks an advanced degree in midwifery. While NCM does not train nurse midwives, . nurses and CNMs are welcome into our programs to be trained as direct-entry midwives.