User:Sarahjoyday/Seattle midwifery school

Seattle Midwifery School

Seattle Midwifery School was established in 1978 in Seattle, Washington (USA) by Suzy Myers, LM, CPM, MPH and Marge Mansfield, LM, CPM. It is the oldest direct-entry midwifery program in the country. In May of 2010, the school merged with Bastyr University and became Bastyr Universities’ Department of Midwifery, offering the nation’s first regionally accredited, articulated direct-entry Master of Science degree in Midwifery.

History

Seattle Midwifery School (SMS) has its roots in the feminist and health-activist movements of the early 1970’s, when home birth was making a resurgence. At the time, co-founders Suzy Myers and Marge Mansfield were part of a women’s health clinic called the Fremont Women’s Clinic. The care providers at the clinic saw themselves as pioneers—they structured themselves in a non-hierarchical fashion and scorned concepts like licensure and credentials. They were like the “barefoot doctors,” and had minimal supervision by formally trained physicians but relied heavily on their self-study and collaboration. They provided virtually all aspects of gynecologic care to their community for free.

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In 1975, the members of the Fremont Women’s Clinic launched the Fremont Women’s Clinic Birth Collective. The collective was made up of Suzy Myers, Marge Mansfield, a lay midwife, Jackie Mertz, a childbirth educator, and two renegade family doctors. Together, they began offering home birth services, including prenatal and postnatal care. By 1977, just two years after the start of the Birth Collective and without ever advertising their services, the group had attended over 250 births, averaging between 8-10 births a month.

One day the Birth Collective received a letter from the department of licensing summoning them to Olympia to explain their illegal midwifery practice. They went, and rather than being met with imprisonment, they were met with an idea. Roz Woodhouse, the Director of the Department of Licensing and the only African American to ever hold a cabinet position in Washington state, explained to them that she understood the value of midwifery care and that there was a law that might help these women favorably. She explained that the law states that in order to practice legally, a person must graduate from an incorporated school of midwifery. Since none exist, why not start one? That day, the concept of Seattle Midwifery School was conceived.

The members of the Birth Collective called a community meeting to discuss the idea. They received a resounding vote of approval, so their work to form the school began. They envisioned a program that would train future midwives in all the necessary competencies and skills as well as prepare them to be politically active and take leadership in a health care environment where they hoped midwifery would play an important role. In May of 1978 Seattle Midwifery School was born.

The founders enrolled themselves as the pilot class, and eighteen months later they graduated, took the licensing exam, and became the first domestically trained Licensed Midwives in Washington State. During the same time frame, the school produced their first catalog, rented a basement space for their classroom, and accepted a second incoming class in 1979 of 6 students. By 1981, SMS expanded their Board of Directors from the original founders to include educators, consumers, health policy and legal experts. Penny Simkin and Louis Pollack were early Board members. The founders also recruited Jo Anne Myers-Ciecko to be apart of the Board. Jo Anne became the school’s 2nd administrator in 1983 and subsequently, the first Executive Director. Jo Anne’s exceptional leadership skills led the school for the next 20 years.

Leadership in National Midwifery Organizations

Of particular note in the history of Seattle Midwifery School is that through the coming decades, graduates and founders of the school played leading roles in the development of many of the major national midwifery and doula organizations. In 1982 Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) was founded and SMS alum Therese Charvet was elected president. At the founding of Midwives Association of Washington State (MAWS) in 1983, SMS founder Suzy Myers became it’s first president. North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) was founded in 1987 and SMS founder Marge Mansfield was elected to the Board of Directors. Both Therese Charvet and Jo Anne Myers-Ciecko were on the first Board of Directors of Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC) in 1991. Doulas of North America (DONA) was founded in 1992 and SMS doula graduate Annie Kennedy was the first president. These organizations continue to play pivotal roles in the U.S. national midwifery scene today, and the legacy of SMS continues to be consistent with their mission to educate and inspire leaders in women’s health.

Merger with Bastyr University

In 1998 SMS celebrated it’s first 20 years of history and articulated a vision statement for the following 20 years. The vision statement read, “In 2020, the Seattle Midwifery School will have a national and international reputation and focus. Staff, faculty and students will reflect the diversity of women’s experiences, in relationship to culture, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion and age. The school will offer undergraduate and graduate degrees to students who complete the midwifery program. The school will be a leading advocate for the midwifery model of care and will have staff dedicated to monitoring health care trends and advocating for health care policy favorable to the midwifery model of care. The school will support diverse, multidisciplinary research on issues related to the midwifery model of care and provide alumnae with continuing education, on-going professional support and opportunities to have continued involvement with the school. Finally, there will be funds to hire appropriate staff to accomplish the work of the school and provide quality service to students, while continuing to honor our feminist values, grassroots activism and woman-centered learning.”

Today much of this vision has been achieved and facilitated by the school’s merger with Bastyr University. After over a year of exploratory discussions and a community consensus process, the school joined forces with Bastyr in May of 2010 and became Bastyr University’s Department of Midwifery.

Accreditation

The Department of Midwifery at Bastyr (formally SMS) is accredited by the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council.

References

1. Midwifery Education Accreditation Council http://meacschools.org/accredited_schools.php
2. Seattle Midwifery School History http://seattlemidwifery.org/history
3. Bastyr University & Seattle Midwifery School Merge http://www.seattlemidwifery.org/midwifery-education/mep-overview.html

External links

1. Bastyr University Official Website [1]