Throughout The US and Canada, this month, it is Black History Month.

Birthing while black has 4x the mortality rate of birthing while white- despite attempts by the predominantly white OB-GYN community to even the playing field. over the last 5 years, mortality rates have only gotten worse in the United States, across the board- but We have statistics that show what works. The most significant is that black families with black care teams fare significantly better than those without. To that end, this month we are offering increased access to birth worker education to Black and Indigenous people of color by reducing our fees significantly. BIPOC students are encouraged to use the code 4TimesMoreLikely for 60% off all birth worker education in the month of February.

The 4TimesMoreLikely code has expired as of 3/1/23. If you are a BIPOC student, please inquire with our customer support staff regarding the assistance we can provide to make our courses more accessible.

What a Wild month it’s Been!

In the past 30 or so days, we have been behind the scenes, expanding not only our team and course offerings, but also our families! a few weeks ago, Sam and her husband welcomed a healthy new baby to their family, their second child. I think it says a lot for our mission that Sam chose one of our certified doulas for her birth, a compassionate, kind and dedicated birth worker named Candace Johnston, of Embrace Every Moment (embraceeverymoment.org). Sam will remain on maternity leave for several months, popping in to grade when she’s the most bored person on the face of the earth… outside of an 11-year-old with a messy bedroom that is.

New Team Members

In the meantime, we have expanded our team again! Taylor Mitchelle Weisz has officially joined the Midwifery Institute Team in innovation. Taylor provides Human Resources consultation, marketing and fresh ideas as we grow. We would also like to welcome Jazman Allen, Doctor of Psychology, to our course development team. Jazman will be developing Counseling Skills for Birth Workers, which will be offered as a continuing education course for our doulas as well as become part of our Midwifery Program. Also new to the team is Danette Rossi, an herbalist and Midwife’s Assistant who will be writing a more advanced Herbalism course for us. We are still accepting applications for course developers with a special set of skills. we have a list of over 150 courses that we would like to eventually offer, and you can assist with this! Send your resume to Rebecca@midwiferyinstitute.com

Childbirth Education

Our childbirth education course is plugging along! New teaching aides arrived over Christmas, with more expected to arrive throughout January, improving my ability to record accurate and interesting lectures. While we are still a long way off from launch, progress is being made, with new course materials being added weekly. I expect to be able to launch this course no later than April 1.

Course Improvements

Last month we announced improvements for The Fertility doula course were complete. This month, I am proud to say we have finished the conversion of the Labor & Doula course from the old format with confusing buttons and pages, to the new format, with individual videos and lectures listed individually, and not on multiple pages within the same section. questions on assignments have been improved for clarity and streamlined to provide a better experience for our students. If you had already signed up for the labor & birth doula course prior to this change, you will remain enrolled in the former version. All new enrollments will have access to the new format. The materials and education are exactly the same across both courses, one is just easier to navigate.

Postpartum Doula is getting new lectures over the next several weeks. Sam began this process before taking maternity leave, and will continue at her leisure. She insists it’s like a fun hobby. When Sam returns from Maternity leave, our Bereavement and Loss Doula course is getting a full overhaul to bring it from expanded learning for current doulas to a doula specialty certification in its own right. We are very excited! like the expansion to fertility doula, these improvements will not affect previously completed course work- if you have already completed a module, there will be no need to go back and complete new assignments, unless you really want to.

Upcoming Promotions

From today, December 28, 2022 until January 12, 2023, you can use code BabyNewYear for an additional 25% off current sale prices, for up to 44% off regular prices.

January 13, 2023 to January 19th, 2023 you can use code DreamToday for an additional 10% off current sale prices

January 20th-January 27th you can use code LolliNana for an additional 15% off current sale prices

In the new year, we will also be bringing back webinars. stay tuned to our website for tickets and recordings. a new section of our website will appear on the top menu.

It’s been a month since our last progress update on the big changes here at The Midwifery Institute so it’s time for an Update to our Big Update. In addition, it’s currently Cyber Monday so I’m on call all the live long day assisting in responding to student inquiries and questions, so I might as well write this up, right?

Childbirth Educator Training

So I bit off more than I could chew here. A launch for last week was never really realistic and would have required 16-hour days from me without a break for over a month to complete- burn out is good for no one, so, We are pushing back the release. I will continue working on this course, but at a more realistic pace. I will make sure to mention where we stand on this highly anticipated course at each of my monthly updates.

Fertility Doula

Updates are complete! This course may continue to evolve slightly over time, but the major necessary changes were completed by Student Experience Coordinator, Sam last week!

Labor & Birth Doula 2.0

This is a work in progress, and on track to be completed by January 2023 Due to recent questions from students, We want to be clear, NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO MATERIAL WILL BE MADE- THIS IS A FORMATTING UPDATE ONLY

“If you’ve been our student for more than one course, you’ll likely have noticed a significant formatting difference between the labor & birth doula training and all of our other classes. This is because our Online Learning System (OLS) underwent an important update only weeks after we completed the digitalization of our Labor & Birth doula training from the previous in-person format, changing the game in how both the instructor and student interfaces work. The content of the course will not change radically. Still, acknowledging that the current course is less user-friendly than we are otherwise providing, We will be working on converting the existing system into the new, more user-friendly format over the next two months. Our current course will remain accessible to all existing students until the course is completed and available for purchase at a deep discount by new enrollees Until we are prepared to Launch Labor & Birth Doula 2.0. Our current students need not worry about a sudden deadline that did not exist before. After the launch of 2.0, our current (1.0) version will remain available at no additional cost for currently enrolled students.“

New Courses

We have been working with several experts in their fields to launch a series of Guest Speaker webinars on a variety of topics related to birth work and parenting. I’m VERY excited about this, in addition to the new courses and webinars we announced last month.

“

New Courses will be introduced periodically throughout 2023 and beyond, from Continuing education to new certifications. Our one-day goal is to be an all-inclusive destination for birth worker training at all levels, from pre-conception through the first year.

On our Roster for New Certifications are the following:

• Lactation Counselor Training, for which we will be working with the ICBLC to provide lactation education to families; And-
• Postnatal Educator Training, providing instructor certification for those providing education to groups or individuals on parenting newborns, feeding, and sleeping, adjustments to family life, and physical recovery, which we hope will prove an excellent addition to any existing birth work practice.

For Continuing Education, we are working on the following:

• Cultural Competency & Trauma Informed Care for Birth Workers is a requirement in several states where Doulas can accept Medicaid and provide a generalized education for birth workers on assisting a wide variety of clients. And-
• Babywearing for Birthworkers is a brief, stand-alone continuing education course to aid birth workers in assisting families utilizing a variety of carriers.

You’ll see the highest number of Additions in Webinars:

• Newborn Sleep
• Business For Birthworkers III: Professionalism and Clients
• Business for Birthworkers IV: Cooperative Practice
• Emergency Birth Skills (a 3-part Series)
• Self-Care for Birth Workers
• …AND MANY MORE

End Quote.

Other Improvements

We have launched a new Discord community! This is open to birth workers of all stages and levels, in addition to a monthly membership with extra benefits. You can find more on this in the Store.

We Redesigned the Website to make it more streamlined and user-friendly. This may take some time to get used to for our long-time students, but we have faith that it’ll be a quick adjustment for the grand majority.

APP incoming! In the next two weeks, we are going to begin the process of setting up our new Online Learning APP. After numerous recent inquiries, we have decided to invest in the architecture necessary to make this happen and further streamline your learning experience at the Midwifery Institute. We’re super stoked about this update!

Syllabuses will soon be included in the first module of every course. These can be useful in the future to demonstrate training hours to insurance companies and clients alike, and to show that other programs fail to match the education you receive here at The Midwifery Institute.

Maternity Leave

Sam is going on Maternity leave any day now! We are all so excited for her and her husband to welcome their new little one. Sam’s not sure how long she *can* stay away (What can I say, It’s an addictive job!). Still, we are going to pressure her to take AT LEAST 6 weeks to snuggle the wee bairn and get used to being a family of 4 before she comes back- During that time, I will be covering the courses Sam facilitates, as well as possible guest grading from co-founder Heather Carmody. With the recent influx of students over the current sale weekend, that may mean slightly less often grading. I apologize for the inconvenience. We must ensure Sam has all the time she needs to bond and heal. If anyone knows the importance of the fourth trimester, it should be birth workers.

That’s all from me today!

With Love-

Rebecca Emmons, Executive Director