Midwife Assistant Role

Orientation

Join Us
A person passionate about assisting the midwife and birthing family through labor, birth, and postpartum.

The birth assistant is also known as the midwife’s assistant to clarify the primary role of working closely with the midwife. Together they maintain a safe and satisfying environment during a family's transition from pregnancy through the immediate postpartum.
Some of the topics covered:
  • Birth Assistant role
  • Situation appropriate communication
  • Practicing self-reflection and cultural humility
  • Review and use of birth supplies
  • Setting up the birth space
  • Confidentiality (HIPAA)
  • Universal precautions, bloodborne pathogens, and use of personal protective equipment
  • Team approach to complications of labor, birth, and postpartum
  • Transfer of care from home to hospital
  • Resuscitation simulations
Experience the freedom of doing what needs to be done in each moment while letting go of the need to feel like an expert to do it.
Befriend your inner judge.

Clarify your strengths and goals

Engage and act in service at every birth, recognizing that many times the best action is doing nothing.

​Assist the midwife at births during active labor through 4 hours postpartum
Birth Assistant sessions are intended for those interested in working with Magnolia Midwifery LLC
​serving parents in the Greater Hartford area, north, and northwestern Connecticut. Although anyone with interest is welcome. Ideal candidates are nurses, midwifery students, and others passionate about ensuring a smooth physiological transition from pregnancy to postpartum.
​Orientation sessions are tailored to the expertise of those who attend.

Interested in birth assisting?
Contact Christy to schedule a virtual meeting to find out more.

Birth Assistant Qualifications

  • Ongoing certification and practice in Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP) and provider certification in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)/Basic Life Support (BLS) is required to attend homebirths and function fully in this role. 
  • A passionate spirit, open mind, and assertive yet humble composure
  • A commitment to open communication and clarification/expression of your needs with a strong focus on maintaining connection
  • Attendance at practice sessions
  • Attendance at Birth Assistant sessions I and II 

Local certification classes for BLS/CPR for the health care professional are found online through The American Red Cross and The American Heart Association.

Neonatal Resuscitation (NRP) for community birth: Karen Strange, AABC, ACLS Academy

Midwifery Assistant Orientation. Why not sign up now? ​ 

  • Monday 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., quarterly in January, April, July, October
    • Session I 1st Monday of the month
    • Session II 2nd Monday of the month

  • Practice study sessions
    • 5th Mondays (March, May, August, November 2021) 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Cute picture of a baby with arms out as if to say,
Photo by Humphrey Muleba on Unsplash
I work collaboratively with birth assistants, without whom the practice would not exist. Birth assistants are paid per birth attendance on a skill-based scale. ​Birth assistants sign up for on-call time via a shared, password protected calendar.