“If the first course was about absorbing midwifery into the skin, this course is about beginning to feel it in your bones, think like a midwife, and trust that indeed you already are one.”
R. B, Spring 2022
COURSE CONTENT
Heart & Hands Advanced Intensives focus on application and refinement of knowledge and skills learned in the beginning Heart & Hands Beginning Intensives course. The workshop content builds on the foundation you have already established in your previous studies. Little homework – lots of small group concentration! Virtual format live on Zoom and on camera (unless feeling unwell).
These three, all-day sessions include:
- Initial interview, small group practice and critique
- Complete prenatal exam skills, including interview and routine care
- Charting
- Pelvic exam skills, including bimanual assessment, cervical assessment, and Pap smear
- Basics of non-pregnant client care, including breast health/exam and common gynecological concerns
- Case histories – prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum, workup and review
- Role-playing of crisis/complications management
- Grief counseling – debriefing difficult birth experiences (for practitioner and client)
- Liability, informed consent, setting boundaries in caregiving
- Venipuncture/blood draw techniques and labwork
- Guest midwives panel – midwives share their experiences and take student questions
- More on apprenticeship and licensure – practical preparation
“I found the advanced course to be the perfect place for integrating and distilling all the information from the beginning course. The case histories were extremely helpful, the complications role-playing empowering, and the midwife panel invaluable for bringing to life what so often feels abstract.”
C.J, Winter 2024

FEES AND REGISTRATION
Heart & Hands Beginning Intensives (virtual, correspondence, or onsite) are a prerequisite for the Advanced Intensives. Tuition is $975, non-refundable, non-transferable and payable in advance. To register, send check or money order made out to Elizabeth Davis to 3201 Burnside Rd, Sebastopol CA 95472, along with your email and phone number. Please include the date (month/year) you completed the beginning course.
Upon receipt of your registration, I will email a confirmation letter with all the details, including required texts and their cost. As the start date approaches, I will email a PDF of course reference materials.
Missed meetings can be made up in any subsequent series (space permitting), at a cost of $175 each, payable in advance.
FURTHERING YOUR MIDWIFERY STUDIES
Students seeking further instruction are encouraged to enroll in the National Midwifery Institute, Inc., a preferred option to pursue MEAC accredited midwifery training. Heart & Hands Beginning and Advanced Intensives comprise the preferred prerequisite for NMI enrollment as they provide a strong foundation for completing NMI’s Midwifery Certificate Program.
If you are interested in enrolling in NMI, please check the website regarding your state of residence to see if this is an option: https://www.nationalmidwiferyinstitute.com/states-permission-to-operate
Questions? For quick response, text me at (707) 695-6520, or email elizabeth@elizabethdavis.com (and please include your phone number).