In This Issue

About Birth
    Endorphins:  The Giving and Receiving
Our Charis Family
     Karen Yoder
Charis Cuisine
     Raw Sunflower Seed Ranch Dressing
Charis Around the World
    Tidbits From Ebony
    Childbirth in Kenya
     
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Our Director's Heart

The Midwife-Apprentice Relationship

Oh, the complaints I have heard!  I’ve heard them from both the midwives and the apprentices! The midwives are accused of using the apprentices as “slave labor”.  The apprentices are accused of not being willing to work hard.  I could go on and on all day about the complaints, but I believe the most beneficial way to use this space is to write about the positives, about how the apprentices can best serve the midwives and how the midwives can best raise up the next generation of midwives to serve their communities with excellence.  This note will not be an exhaustive treatise on how to be a good preceptor and a good apprentice (that book is one of the many Susan Oshel and I will be working on in our “spare time”), but it will just scratch the surface and offer a good starting place for developing the best midwife-apprentice relationship possible.

Last month, I talked about multiplication and how I believe that the “Each One Teach One” principle will not meet the world’s need for more midwives (and doulas).  This month, I want to introduce you to my preceptor, Christina Holmes, who has caught the vision for “Each One Teach Many”.

My relationship with Christina has changed in the last month.  She is no longer my preceptor, but now my peer.  She and I are the two midwives serving the expectant families of Birthways Family Birth Center in Sarasota, Florida.  Although she is no longer my preceptor, I will always look up to her as a mentor.  Our relationship benefitted both of us equally; and that, in turn, benefits our community and the world.  Why is it that Christina and I have been able to maintain mutual respect and a friendship along the way?  Why were we able to see it through all the way to the end, when so many other preceptor-student relationships have failed?  Here are some things I think made the difference:

A commitment to multiplication.  Christina sees her students as more than just help.  Yes, she needs and appreciates the help, but she also realizes that her community and the world need more midwives.  She knows that if we are to best serve our community, we must be willing to make the sacrifice and teach others.  Going into the relationship with that as the main motivation creates a vital foundation of trust.  When a student knows the midwife has caught the vision for “Each One Teach Many” and is committed to training her well, then she will be motivated to be a blessing to the midwife who is sacrificing much to train up the next generation of midwives.

A heart to serve. As soon as an aspiring midwife’s desire for a preceptor and the experience and education she will receive from that relationship becomes the only motivation for seeking out the relationship, the student has already undermined that important foundation of trust in the relationship. The apprentice must approach a prospective preceptor with the desire to serve. Midwifery is not a high-paying profession, so the service midwives receive from their students makes it possible for them to continue their excellent service to their communities. The student must understand that her devoted service to her preceptor is essential to the continuation and multiplication of midwifery. When the student goes above and beyond the call of duty and serves the midwife well, there isn’t much a midwife wouldn’t do to help her apprentice learn and grow and become great.

Realistic expectations.  Although there were times that I spent 60 to 80 hours in a week just on school work and time at Birthways, I never felt that Christina required of me more than I could give.  I knew that I could be honest with her about what I was able to do.  The times that I respectfully let her know that I could not do something or that I had to change my schedule for a particular reason, she honored my request.  It is true that being a midwife requires long hours, lost sleep, and hard work; but one of the skills a student midwife must learn is how to avoid burnout. Unfortunately, many midwives feel that their apprentices need to learn just how hard the life of a midwife is so that only the strong ones will survive.  I believe that attitude and practice only perpetuates the high burnout rate and high divorce rate of midwives.  Instead, it is smart to help the students learn to set healthy boundaries and how to keep their priorities straight.

Be willing to work hard.  Midwifery is not for wimps! Don’t go into an apprenticeship thinking you will be able to sleep the day after attending a birth all night.  There are prenatal visits scheduled the next day and the midwife who allowed you to catch the baby of her client the night before is counting on your help.  It is hard work.  And as a student, you also have studying to do, papers and projects to complete, and all the normal daily family stuff.  Before I started attending midwifery school, I sat down with my kids and described for them what life would be like and asked them to seriously consider whether or not they could do it.  I had been attending births their entire lives, so they were used to my leaving in the middle of the night and having to fend for themselves occasionally, but adding my school to the mix and the increased volume of births I would be attending would mean they would all have to pitch in even more.  They decided that they could do it… and they did!  Our entire family had to be willing to work hard so that I could be successful as a midwifery student.

Have an attitude of gratitude.  Be grateful for all your preceptor or your apprentice does… and communicate it often in many different ways.  A good apprentice is worth her weight in gold.  Let her know what she does right and thank her often for her service.  When a midwife takes on an apprentice, she is spending time and energy to teach and train, she is entrusting her clients to the student, and this should not be taken for granted.  Apprentices, please acknowledge the enormity of her sacrifice and let her know regularly how much you appreciate it!

There is more, but that is all the space I have in this newsletter.  This is a good foundational beginning.  Perhaps in the future I will share even more about how to have a mutually beneficial midwife-apprentice relationship.

A note to the families who have allowed midwifery students to participate in your care: YOU are a very important part of helping to bless the world with more midwives.  YOU are the reason midwifery is still alive today and the reason it will be an option for your daughters for generations to come.  THANK YOU!!!

Blessings,
Kristin Schuchmann, LM
Executive Director, Charis Childbirth, Inc.
 

The information in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and is not intended to take the place of medical care and advice from your health care provider.