Advent Health University’s Midwifery Degree Program Aims to Fill Growing Need for Prenatal, Postpartum Care
by RYAN MILEJCZAK
Pregnancy is an incredible time, but for many women, it can also present a variety of challenges. And one of the biggest supporters of pregnant women who face those challenges are the health professionals who provide care through pregnancy, labor, and beyond. But here in Florida, and in the nation at large, a massive shortage of these very professionals is growing.
“Our nation faces a shortage of about 5,000 OB/GYN providers between now and 2035,” explains Tanya Vaughn-Deneen, DNP, CNM, FNP-BC, associate director for AdventHealth’s inpatient hospitalist midwife team. “Florida alone in that time frame is going to face a deficiency of about 500 OB/GYN providers.”
To help fill this gap, AdventHealth University is launching a new program: the Master of Science in Nursing – Midwifery degree program.
“The midwifery degree program is a master’s of science nursing degree that takes about two and a half years to complete,” explains Lynelle Callender, DNP, RN, INS, assistant dean of nursing at Advent Health University. “There, students will learn advanced nursing skills in women’s health, on both the primary health and the inpatient side, and they’ll be able to engage in advanced clinical skills and practicum experiences.”
Vaughn-Deneen provides more detail on the program.
“Students that are coming in are already registered nurses who will have two years of labor and delivery experience,” says Vaughn-Deneen. “What we will do is then educate them in women’s primary care, including antepartum care, through to the time when they deliver their baby, which is termed intrapartum care, and then following through the postpartum care and annual care as well.”
Callender also emphasizes the quality of the education provided.
“Our AHU graduate nursing programs have small, intimate cohort sizes, and their professors and nursing leaders are all doctorally prepared with many, many years of clinical and education experience,” she stated. “AHU is also accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.”
In the program, students will receive an education that will leave them well prepared for a new career in midwifery.
“At the Advent Health hospital system, the certified nurse midwives function at the highest level of their license certification and preparation. We are able to see and do things that other midwives in other areas of the country will never see or do, andI think that is one of the best reasons to have your clinical experiences through the Advent Health hospital system,” states Vaughn-Deneen.
The origins of this program lie in the AdventHealth team’s firsthand observations of the major gaps in prenatal care here in Florida.
“We could clearly see a lack of prenatal care providers in our area, and definitely a lack of certified nurse midwives,” reflects Vaughn-Deneen. “As we researched where our Florida-based certified nurse midwives were coming from, every single of them was educated in a different state because, prior to this program opening, we did not have any schools of midwifery in the state of Florida.”
Vaughn-Deneen and the AdventHealth team could clearly see the impact this gap in care had, with appointments difficult to secure. So the AdventHealth team decided to team with their university partner to be able to open the doors for midwifery care for their community.
“We jumped on the chance to collaborate,” says Callender.
With the help of this program, Florida will be able to greatly improve the quality of prenatal care.
The first cohort of the program will begin in Fall of this year. To be accepted into the program and begin their journey in midwifery, students will need to be Registered Nurses with a 3.0 GPA (nursing and overall cumulative) and at least two years of labor and delivery nursing experience in the past five years. Those interested in learning more can head to http://ahu.edu/msn.
“Midwives change lives. We change lives every single day,” says Vaughn-Deneen. “And it goes beyond just a medical situation. We are human-to-human providers that provide a warm, caring touch at a time of complete vulnerability. Maybe the patient is scared or not sure what’s going to happen, and we can provide the guidance they need to make sure they feel loved and cared for. We don’t just come in treating the medical diagnosis; we meet the person where they are and elevate them so that everybody does better spiritually, physically, and emotionally.”