This new virtual format allows students from all over the country to attend, creating more diversity in our classroom. Limited to 10 students, each will have ample opportunity to ask questions and participate in group discussions, with a live format that offers the benefits of onsite classes – group contact and support in a condensed and demonstration-rich format.
Heart & Hands Midwifery Intensives
Elizabeth Davis, Director/Instructor
Purpose | Who May Attend | Format | Course Content | Skills & Demonstrations
Schedule, Fees & Registration | Upon Completion | The Instructor
PURPOSE
Heart & Hands Midwifery Intensives were originally founded by Elizabeth Davis in 1982. The course was developed at the request of a group of birth assistants seeking to acquire practical midwifery skills. Over the years and by demand, the course evolved to include basic introductory information and emphasis on the intuitive, interpersonal skills essential to effective midwifery care.
The purpose of the HEART & HANDS MIDWIFERY INTENSIVES course is to provide students with a strong and integrated foundation in the art and science of midwifery.
WHO MAY PARTICIPATE
HEART & HANDS MIDWIFERY INTENSIVES are ideal for those interested in discovering their unique relationship to the art and practice of midwifery. Students in the health field, therapists, nutritionists, body-workers – anyone who desires to empower mothers/ gestational parents and their supporters in the act of giving birth is welcome to attend.
The class is designed to accommodate students at various levels of sophistication. No prerequisites – beginners are always welcome!
FORMAT
HEART & HANDS INTENSIVES are available in both virtual and correspondence formats (please see next paragraph for correspondence details), with coursework that encourages students to incorporate personal experience in their learning process. In the virtual group, we support each other’s work in an open, egalitarian fashion. With the group limited to around 10 students, close personal attention facilitates integration of midwifery theory and practice. At all times, Heart & Hands students are expected to work with respect for diversity of culture, belief, and sexual orientation/gender identification.
The correspondence HEART & HANDS INTENSIVES course is comprised of ten modules that combine academic material with many self-directed hands-on activities demonstrated in the virtual class.
COURSE CONTENT
- History and Politics of Midwifery
- Prenatal Care and Complications
- Counseling and Communication Skills
- Intuition, Boundaries in Caregiving, Healing the Healer
- Nutritional Counseling
- Sexuality in the Childbearing Cycle, Sexual Abuse Issues
- Facilitating Labor and Supporting Physiologic Birth
- Labor Complications and Transport
- Perineal Assessment and Repair
- Newborn Complications and Neonatal Testing
- Postpartum Care, Breastfeeding, and Emotional Adjustments
- Homeopathy and Herbs in Pregnancy and Birth
- State Licensure and National Certification (CPM)
SKILLS AND DEMONSTRATIONS
Skills demonstrations are made of taking blood pressure, assessing fundal height, fetal palpation and heart auscultation, pelvic and cervical examination, and intramuscular injections. Also demonstrated are techniques for assessing fetal position by internal exam, how to read a fetal monitor (in case of transport), hand maneuvers for assisting birth, special techniques for handling shoulder dystocia, posterior arrest, and retained placenta (including manual removal), and basic skills for assisting breech birth. We practice suturing as a group at the final meeting.
Correspondence students will find, whenever feasible, instructions in their modules for self-directed, hands-on practice of many skills cited above.
SCHEDULE, FEES AND REGISTRATION
The virtual course meets eight successive weekend days. Tuition is $1775, non-refundable/non-transferable and payable in advance. To register, please send tuition in check or money order made out to Elizabeth Davis, to 3201 Burnside Rd, Sebastopol CA 95472, along with a brief, birth-related bio. Upon receipt, I will email a confirmation letter with all the details, including required texts and their cost. If you must miss a class, you can make it up in any subsequent series (space permitting) at a charge of $100, payable in advance. NOTE: Payment plans are available by special arrangement: contact me for details.
The enrollment process for the correspondence course is the same as above. Upon receipt of your payment and birth-related bio, I will email the modules in Word format with complete instructions, and we will schedule a Zoom meeting or phone call to get to know each other better. Again, textbooks are a separate cost; please contact me for details.
Upon completion of the beginning course, students may enroll in the virtual or correspondence format Advanced Workshops, which cost $725 .
Space permitting, correspondence students in either the beginning or advanced courses may choose to attend selected virtual meetings at a charge of $100 each, payable in advance. Certain meetings are especially rich in demonstrations; contact me for details.
Questions? elizabeth@elizabethdavis.com (707) 695-6520
UPON COMPLETION
Students seeking further instruction may wish to enroll in the National Midwifery Institute, Inc. , a MEAC accredited program that incorporates the Heart & Hands courses. Enrollees in NMI receive full credit for completed Heart & Hands coursework, and all tuition paid is deducted from their NMI down payment.
Academic credit for Heart & Hands courses has also been granted by National College of Midwifery, Birthwise Midwifery School, and Midwives College of Utah (by portfolio process). For students applying to these or other midwifery programs, letters of recommendation/class syllabus are available on request.
THE INSTRUCTOR
ELIZABETH DAVIS, C.P.M., B.A. has been a midwife, educator, and reproductive health care specialist for 40 years.
She served as Pacific Regional Representative and the Education Committee Chair for the Midwives Alliance of North America, President of Midwifery Education Accreditation Council, and consultant to the State of California’s Alternative Birthing Methods Study. She spearheaded the development of the NARM CPM process, calling the first meeting with participation from over 40 states. She holds a degree in Holistic Maternity Care, and is NARM certified. She is Co-Founder of the National Midwifery Institute, Inc.
Her books include:
Orgasmic Birth: Your Guide to a Safe, Satisfying and Pleasurable Birth Experience
Heart & Hands: A Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy and Birth, now in its 2019 5th edition!
The Rhythms of Women’s Desire: How Female Sexuality Unfolds at Every Stage of Life
The Women’s Wheel of Life