Michigan School of Traditional Midwifery Bearing the Future ~ Preserving Tradition www.traditionalmidwife.org Director's Welcome * Contact MSTM * Enrollment Information * Frequently Asked Questions Join us in August 2006 for our special Midwifery Skills Conference Retreat! Click HERE for more information. August 2005 Press Release Michigan School of Traditional Midwifery & Herbology Gains State Licensure. This year at MSTM, we have been making important and positive changes to our ever growing institution and we are evolving in many wonderful ways. Among these changes, we have expanded by adding 4 new educational programs plus an adjunct to our academic program of Midwifery. Michigan School of Traditional Midwifery now offers a Diploma Program of Traditional Midwifery. We are honored to be the first school in North America to ever offer a Diploma of Traditional Midwifery. But, our most important change has been to meet the challenges of growth while at the same time establishing a clear identity as an academic institution. We have long pondered our future and evaluated our unique status as a school of Midwifery studies. We continually deliberate over how our programs effect not only our students but also our contribution to Midwifery itself and we find ourselves constantly faced with the question; “Are we doing enough?” As a school, we have always been very careful to maintain a neutral position when it comes to the politics of Midwifery because we believe that birthing women are best served and supported outside of the arena of public scrutiny and fickle opinion. A woman’s right to choose her caregiver should be legal and respected - that has and ever will be our unwavering stand however quietly we’ve maintained it in the past. But the virtues of neutrality are shortcoming compared to the value of validated presence. Thus, we considered it important to our future that we serve Midwifery in a broader sense than just continuing our simple, nearly obscure existence for students seeking alternative education. We felt that advocacy must be brought to the fore and that we should do our best to move midwifery forward. Midwifery has a right to exist unlegislated and undefined in medical terms for the same reasons that women have a right to choose their birth settings and attendants outside of the medical system. To further that ideal, we explored new directions and put forth concerted efforts to become legally acknowledged as a school in the hopes that our bolder, more determined advocacy for the rights of birthing families might perhaps be a bit more formidable. I am therefore pleased to announce, that after a substantial evaluation of our present and future goals, early this year we chose to complete the process of becoming a licensed school in the State of Michigan. Michigan School of Traditional Midwifery (MSTM) is now officially State licensed by the Michigan Office of Secondary Education. We are also in the process of approval under the Department of Homeland Security to enroll non-immigrant alien students for attendance by non-immigrant international students. This was not an easy decision or process for us. Part of our reserve was that we didn’t want to confuse future students as they researched their educational options - we’ve never participated in or generated advertising hype campaigns of any kind and we wish to make it clear: * MSTM never was, and never will be, a school offering a certified nurse midwifery degree. * We do not now, and never will, support Midwifery being legally defined in medical terms as a medical occupation. * As a licensed school, we will be governed by the State in measures of quality control in the functioning of our procedures and policies only. * We feel that licensure has the potential to support and protect the diversity of Midwifery in many positive ways. However, it will not compromise our traditionalist mission. * We will continue to encourage students in our Traditional Midwifery Programs to research, join and support midwifery organizations of their choice on their State and National levels. * We will continue to provide advocacy for homebirth, natural childbirth and breastfeeding. Our existence as a State licensed school will further general public awareness of midwifery as a traditional vocation and not a medical science. Our advocacy may seem small and even ineffectual to some but it is clear and non-negotiable. We are staunch in our stand that midwifery must be maintained without legal encumbrances and prosecutable guidelines for the sake of every woman who will define birth for herself and exercise her right to identify as her attendant any person of her choice, be it her sister, mother, daughter or community servant; anyone whom she elects to call Midwife, without legal control. Birth belongs to women - not medical titles. One of my favorite quotes is from John James Glenn Parsons who said, “The road ahead isn’t always straight forward.” I’ve thought of this many times in the past year as we’ve steered this new course into uncharted waters and set our sights ahead with optimism. In some ways, this milestone marks a brand new beginning for MSTM though it does not constitute the end of an era. Our values will always remain the same, we just hope to have a greater impact on the future for the sake of birthing women and the preservation of the vocation of Traditional Midwifery. Yours in Birth; Casey Makela, CTM, MSTM Director Michigan School of Traditional Midwifery & Herbology www.traditionalmidwife.org return to MSTM News page PROGRAM INFORMATION Traditional Midwifery Program Traditional Midwife Diploma Program Certified Doula Certified Midwife Assistant Lactation Consultant Certified Herbalist Body Casting Technician Well Woman Massage/Hydrotherapist Certified Aromatherapist Midwifery Skills Workshops Tuition & Financial Aid Scholarships MSTM Book Store The “CALLING” Midwifery Facts ~ Associations ~ American College of Traditional Midwives Sign the first petition ever launched to decriminalize birth! Please sign it and pass it on!