The Nurse-Midwife
For centuries, women have turned to midwives for support and assistance in childbirth. (Midwife means "with woman.") Today's certified nurse-midwives continue to provide this personal care, which represents a bridge between traditional birth practices and modern technology.
A certified nurse-midwife (CNM) is a registered nurse who has also completed an accredited educational program in nurse-midwifery and passed an examination given by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB). In California, nurse-midwives are licensed by the Board of Registered Nursing (BRN).
Despite the most advanced medical technology in the world, the United States has higher rates of infant mortality than many countries that use midwifery as their primary model of care.
In the United States, some studies have indicated that midwife-attended births have lower NICU admission rates and lower cesarian birth rates. Midwifery is increasingly perceived as an appropriate alternative to traditional obstetrical care. Consequently, the need for midwives continues to grow.
Nurse-midwives provide primary care to childbearing women in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings including hospitals, homes, and birth centers. They provide that care from a core belief that birth is not a medical event, but a very normal physiologic process.
The Women's Health Nurse Practitioner
The Women's Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) is a registered nurse who has completed advanced education with a focus on the primary health care needs of women across the life cycle, with emphasis on conditions unique to women from menarche through the remainder of their lives.
Besides clinical care, WHNPs focus on health promotion, disease prevention, health education and counseling, and helping patients make wise health and lifestyle choices. Program graduates earn a certificate as a WHNP that enables them to be licensed as a WHNP in the State of California.
Nurse Midwifery Program
In 1975, the San Francisco General Hospital Nurse-Midwifery Service was established through the UCSF School of Medicine to provide a site for the education of Nurse-Midwives and Women's Health Nurse Practitioners (WHNP) and to demonstrate that nurse-midwifery practice was a safe alternative to traditional obstetrical care in the hospital environment.
Since its inception, the program has graduated hundreds of nurse-midwives while the midwifery faculty practice has attended births for more than 15,000 women. The program is dedicated to increasing service to vulnerable and underserved women and families and adheres to the philosophy of the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM).
This is a two-year program leading to the Master of Science degree, with certificates in nurse-midwifery and as a women's health nurse practitioner. The core curriculum includes courses in:
- advanced health assessment
- nurse-midwifery management of the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum woman
- well woman health care and the newborn
- nurse-midwifery management of complications
- health promotion and disease prevention
- assessment and management of common primary care signs and symptoms
- clinical pharmacology
- assessment and management of psychiatric symptoms
- issues in nurse-midwifery professional practice, and
- cultural and linguistic competency
Students in the Master of Science program also take a series of theory and research courses throughout their two-year program. This culminates in a final comprehensive scholarly paper.
Clinical residencies include rotations in antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, well woman's health, newborn, and primary care. Students also complete an integration residency which is a full scope clinical experience in sites that range from private midwifery practices to tertiary care hospitals.
The Nurse Midwifery/WHNP specialty also admits students through the UCSF MEPN program, for those who have completed their baccalaureate (bachelor's) degree in a field other than nursing. Following the first year of MEPN coursework, students then complete the two-year Master of Science specialty curriculum.
The specialty also offers a two-year program, culminating in post-master's certificates for nurse-midwifery and women's health nurse practitioners, to registered nurses who are already prepared at the Master of Science level. Certified nurse-midwives who have completed their undergraduate education may earn a Master of Science degree through a one year, 36 unit, individualized program.
To accommodate students from rural areas, on-campus coursework is clustered on one to two consecutive days per week; other curricula is available using distance learning (on-line) technologies. Clinical rotations are provided with community practitioners.
The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME).
Students who graduate from the program are eligible to take the certification exam administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB).
Courses/Curriculum
Application
For information on UCSF SON MS Program application procedures:
Related Websites
- UCSF Nurse Midwives Program (at San Francisco General Hospital):
- Certificate Track Program (Post-Masters), Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Services, UCSF School of Medicine:
Frequently Asked Questions
Our program is fortunate to be an integral part of a busy committed community-based nurse-midwifery practice in a culturally diverse urban community. We enjoy a stable and collegial relationship with our fellow clinicians in the Ob/GYN Department of the UCSF School of Medicine. This affords our students excellent clinical opportunities as well as access to superb consultants and world-class speakers on obstetric complications. Our nurse-midwifery faculty members are all expert clinicians, clinical preceptors, as well as skilled classroom teachers. Just as importantly, our students have the opportunity to take their primary care and core graduate classes from the outstanding faculty in the UCSF School of Nursing. Our curriculum offers extensive coursework in primary care as well as cultural sensitivity and linguistic competency. The three program strengths consistently identified by students at graduation are 1) excellent clinical rotations and training, 2) excellent nurse-midwifery faculty and preceptors, and 3) wonderful classmates.
The program does not provide opportunities to attend home births as part of our clinical rotations due to the University's inability to provide malpractice insurance for home birth. However, some students attend integration at select birth center practices. The program supports a woman's right to choice of birth setting and encourages students to learn the skills necessary for safe out of hospital birth practice.
Experience as a labor and delivery nurse can be very helpful in developing an appreciation of the process of labor and birth. However a variety of experiences in women's health are valued and this experience is not an absolute requirement.
Yes. NP students meet with faculty to design a program which reflects the student's experience and knowledge. Past coursework, professional experiences and student goals are evaluated to determine if any coursework should be challenged. We do not expect students to repeat curriculum they have already mastered.
The graduates of this program work as midwives throughout California and the United States and the world. They practice in many types of hospitals from small community settings to large tertiary hospitals, in birth centers and in home birth practices. A recent survey of the program graduates of the last 5 years indicates that 95% are employed, with over 75% caring for underserved, uninsured, Medi-Cal or minority families.
Over 95% of our students study full time and complete their program in two years. The majority of specialties hold classes two days a week (Tuesday/Wednesday or Wednesday/Thursday) to allow for clinical part-time work and family obligations. "Official" part-time status is highly restricted and is available only by special arrangement. In certain circumstances, also by special arrangement, faculty will allow a student to extend a two-year program over three years.