October 27, 2022

You’re probably here because I promoted this blog post (Our First!) on social media. Or you stumbled on our website from google, and this is just one of over 30 pages you’re reading in their entirety as you research and compare your options. Either way- HI! For those who don’t know, My name is Rebecca Emmons, and I am the Executive Director and co-founder of the Midwifery Institute. So I hinted (read: Screamed from the rooftops) that significant changes are underway here at TMI. I hate articles that give six paragraphs of filler and introductions before you get what you came for, so let’s dive right in.

New Staff!

Please give a big applause to Sam Morton (read more about Sam Here), Who has accepted a contractor with the Midwifery Institute as we work on the other significant changes coming down the pike. Sam is working to improve our student experience by improving and streamlining existing courses (see more about that below),

Childbirth Educator Training- Early Access NOW!… Full Access November 24

We are pleased to announce we are in Beta-Testing/Early Access for our Childbirth Educator Training. This is our most intensive course yet, and possibly the most comprehensive on the market at a staggering 250 hours of training; the childbirth educator course through the Midwifery Institute is an intense THIRTEEN module course, covering effective communication, cultural awareness and trauma-informed care, evidence-based practices, and informed consent, teaching adults, physiological birth, Cesarean, Vaginal Birth After Cesarean, An Overview of Methods used for management of physiological labor, common interventions, and facility policies, And MORE- in all its glorious variety. This enables you, The Childbirth Educator, to provide expectant parents with the most comprehensive education on the market. Oh- But there’s more! Following our Full Launch (Thanksgiving 2022), When you enroll in our Childbirth Educator course, you will ALSO be given access to TWO of our Doula training courses, which we require for certification, at no additional Cost. Current and former students enrolled in said doula courses will receive a rebate of $500 off the Childbirth Educator Training. While we will accept outside certifications as part of our CBE course requirements, Labor and/or Postpartum students certified through other agents will not receive a rebate.

Labor & Birth Doula 2.0- Transition Complete by Christmas 2022

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 & Webinars

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!

Streamlining & Improvements

Postpartum Doula: Our Postpartum doula course was designed with our labor & birth students in mind- we didn’t initially set out to attract students with other or even no previous certifications for birth work. In practice, we have attracted dozens of students from outside our existing registration, which means that our postpartum course needs some work to be sufficient and accessible for everyone, regardless of where they have received their previous training. Sam has begun evaluating and implementing some of these necessary changes. We anticipate that this process will be complete by The end of February 2023.

Fertility Doula: There have been some hiccups in the fertility doula course over the last six months. Some videos need to be re-recorded to reflect current staffing, and some assignments could use a reimagining to make them simpler to submit- The Introduction assignment, for starters. This will be an ongoing process, likely until March 2023.

There’s More!

This blog is brand new, but I have been tooling over whether or not to add one to the site for several months. You can expect to find news and updates here periodically- Our goal dates may change, things may launch early or late (we are a small team, so there’s no telling there), and new webinars may become available. Additionally, we will also be posting informational content for readers of all backgrounds as they come into the realm of birth work… and occasionally, when a bot knows how to navigate TMI better than I do, an advertisement for natural male enhancement, between when it’s posted and when I do my daily account check. Sorry about that.

Thank you so much for choosing The Midwifery Institute. We are so honored to be your teachers.

All of my Love-

Rebecca Emmons