Nurse-Midwifery Graduate Academic Program
Ranked #2 Nurse-Midwifery Program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report - More about the rankings.
Our D.N.P. Nurse-Midwifery program features:
- Consistently ranked in the top five for Nurse-Midwifery programs.
- One-on-one mentorship at two clinical faculty practices (Marquam Hill and Hillsboro Medical Center).
- Partnerships with clinics, birth centers, and hospitals.
- Opportunities to attend water births.
- Nurse-Midwifery education in a state with access to the full scope of reproductive choices and full practice authority.
- All clinical placements and preceptors are arranged for you.
- Formal training in obstetric ultrasound is included in the program of study.
- 100% certification exam first-time pass rates.
OHSU School of Nursing alums committed to providing nurse-midwifery care in rural communities
Two OHSU School of Nursing alums were recently featured in a story highlighting their commitment to providing their midwifery services in rural communities across America. Read about their amazing work.
Nurse-midwifery as a career
Nurse-midwifery offers a wide variety of professional career pathways. Nurse-Midwives are known for their evidence-based care that is grounded in affirming the power of women, honoring the normalcy of their lifecycles, and prioritizing compassionate partnerships with women. Beyond pregnancy and childbirth care, services provided by Nurse-Midwives include primary, well-woman gynecology, family planning, fertility, and newborn care during the first 28 days of life.
Studying to be a Nurse-Midwife in Oregon
Oregon is a highly appealing state in which to learn Nurse-Midwifery. Beyond the geographic benefit that Portland is 75 miles east of the Pacific Ocean and 75 miles west of the Cascade mountain range, the Nurse-Midwifery profession has a long-term, strong, foothold in maternity, gynecologic, and reproductive care here. Nurse-Midwives attend almost 20% of the births in the Portland metropolitan area. They are employed in almost every hospital in the area. The home birth community has a strong presence in Portland. Nurse-Midwives in Oregon are licensed, independent nurse-practitioners who have prescriptive authority. Many work outside of maternity care, providing excellent care at Planned Parenthood or private gynecology offices. The American College of Nurse-Midwives' local affiliate provides strong student support as well as an opportunity for students to volunteer on behalf of the profession. Our students benefit from all of these wonderful opportunities in Oregon.
American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)
ACNM local affiliate
Have questions?
- Request information
- Attend an information session
- Schedule an appointment with an admissions counselor
- Contact our admissions team
Scholarships available
OHSU offers a variety of scholarships that can help fund your education.
OHSU technical standards policy
This policy ensures that all OHSU degree or certificate candidates possess the skills and abilities necessary to complete the curriculum successfully. Review the OHSU Technical Standards policy.
Accreditation
Our program received a full ten-year accreditation at the last site visit by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education.
The Nurse-Midwifery Program is accredited through 2033 by the
Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education
2000 Duke Street
Suite 300
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Student clinical experiences at OHSU (and beyond)
The OHSU Nurse-Midwifery Faculty Practice is a robust 30+ year old practice at OHSU Hospital and Clinics, which is an academic health center. We attend a large portion of the births at OHSU hospital. Our practice is the chief clinical site of our midwifery students. Students work one-on-one with faculty preceptors in the outpatient midwifery clinic, birthing rooms, mother-baby unit, triage unit, and lactation clinics. At some point during the 4 quarters of intrapartum (labor and birth) clinical experiences, each student is offered the opportunity to learn "off-the-hill" (OHSU is located about 2/3 of the way up an 1100 foot hill) in other sites that provide opportunities for working with diverse patient populations and practices. The integration (final) practicum is situated in a variety of possible sites in Oregon or beyond. Students receive more than 1000 hours of supervised clinical practice in the program.
Program Philosophy
Faculty Practice
OHSU Marquam Hill Portland campus
Our faculty are special
Our Nurse-Midwifery faculty have extensive experience in full-scope Nurse-Midwifery and teaching midwifery graduate students, ranging from several years to over 3 decades. Faculty who teach in the classroom work directly with students in the faculty practice. Many of our faculty are Spanish-speaking. Some of our faculty have worked in out-of-hospital birth settings or have volunteered internationally. All faculty love sharing their passion for Nurse-Midwifery with our midwifery students.
"I graduated from the midwifery program in 2008 while completing an MPH. The abundant opportunities available to students for learning and collaboration helped to expand my world as a future health care provider and advocate for public health policy. My faculty and colleagues were supportive, inspiring and wholly committed simultaneously to our education and to the care of their patients. I had a blast as a student...so much so that I came back! Now, as one of the OHSU Nurse-Midwifery faculty, I hope to help midwifery students thrive in the clinical environment and beyond. I can attest--having been on both sides of the program--that it's special here and that our graduates leave with the skills to practice anywhere in the world."
-Laura Jenson
Pathways of education for Nurse-Midwifery
Some students enter our program after completing a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. These full-time students typically are eligible for Nurse-Midwifery certification after completing 3 years of didactic and clinical education and receiving the Doctor of Nursing degree.
Most of our students, who do not have a Bachelor's Degree in nursing, are admitted to the Accelerated Bachelor's Program/ Nurse-Midwifery Graduate Program. This option allows students to pre-identify Nurse-Midwifery as their graduate area of intent. They progress seamlessly into the midwifery program after completing a rigorous accelerated bachelor's in nursing program at OHSU. They then achieve a Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree and are eligible for Nurse-Midwifery certification.
Students gain knowledge
The Nurse-Midwifery program at OHSU prepares students to meet the unique health care needs of women. Nurse-Midwives provide primary and gynecologic care to women as well as specialty care and support for expecting mothers and their infants. In addition to the reproductive science, students examine the influences of culture; tradition and the social, economic and political forces that influence the health of women. All OHSU students participate in a one year interprofessional education course where they study with other health profession students, such as medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry. The program strives to prepare compassionate, skilled clinician-scholars willing to address issues that affect the lives of women.
The Nurse-Midwifery program of study has been designed to offer a combination of graduate core courses, advanced practice core and midwifery specialty courses. This combination prepares our students for practice in the field and simultaneously provides a framework for clinical leadership and policy that is critical for any midwife in practice. The Nurse-Midwifery program of study provides students with a solid foundation in the scientific basis for clinical practice. Students develop the knowledge and skills to provide safe Nurse-Midwifery care using sound clinical judgment to care for women in the context of her family.
The Nurse-Midwifery program offers strong clinical experience with a focus on evidence-based practice. Graduates of the Nurse-Midwifery specialty are eligible to take the national certification examination of the American Midwifery Certification Board.
A student's perspective
"Plain and simple, regardless of the program, the experience of becoming a Nurse-Midwife is life changing. That said, I could not be more confident in my education at OHSU and proud of my journey from the Acc Bac to Midwifery to D.N.P. program. My cohort was supportive and without a doubt, kept me going when it all felt impossible. Getting me out for a quick lunch time run in Forest Park, lots of fabulous baked goods for class snacks, and really big hugs and laughter, these women are my sisters! The midwifery faculty practice provided consistent mentorship and was a great opportunity to get to know our educators as midwives and women. Where style may differ, their commitment to women, evidence-based care, and safety were constant, creating a holistic learning experience where I learned I can be a great midwife and I can be me."
Now as I find myself at the beginning my career as a midwife with a D.N.P., I feel prepared for this new journey. I am not alone, I am stronger because of the community I come from and can rely on while I continue on this path of walking along side women.
Molly MacMorris-Adix
Class of 2016
Our students enjoy various student and professional opportunities at OHSU and in the Portland metropolitan area:
D.N.P. student learning outcomes (applies to all post-master’s D.N.P. and all APRN specialties)
- Demonstrate readiness to enter clinical practice via specialty competencies with the appropriate scientific knowledge, and considerations for its application to practice.
- Apply ethical principles along with the standards of professional conduct to clinical care, research, and education.
- Evaluate emerging healthcare systems and policy that influence delivery of cost effective patient care.
- Generate entry level practice scholarship through the completion of a clinical practice improvement project based on the principles of improvement science.
- Model interprofessional communication and collaboration to improve individual and/or population health outcomes.
- Identify and address gaps in professional knowledge through ongoing reflection to support the principle of life-long learning.
Nurse-Midwifery Program student learning outcomes
- Demonstrate the independent management of primary health screening and health promotion of women from the perimenarcheal through postmenopausal periods.
- Demonstrate the independent management of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.
- Demonstrate the independent management of the care of the well newborn during the first 28 days of life.
- Evaluate, utilize, interpret and collaborate in research.
- Demonstrate professional accountability through collaborative communication and ethical principles in the provision of midwifery care to women and their families.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of health care principles and a familiarity with the American College of Nurse-Midwives standards for the practice of midwifery and code of ethics
- Demonstrate readiness to enter clinical practice via specialty competencies with the appropriate scientific knowledge, and considerations for its application to practice.
- Apply ethical principles along with the standards of professional conduct to clinical care, research, and education.
- Evaluate emerging healthcare systems and policy that influence delivery of cost-effective patient care.
- Generate entry-level practice scholarship through the completion of a clinical practice improvement project based on the principles of improvement science
- Model interprofessional communication and collaboration to improve individual and/or population health outcomes.
- Identify and address gaps in professional knowledge through ongoing reflection to support the principles of life-long learning.
For all program specifics, Student Learning Outcomes and detailed school information, check out the School of Nursing Catalog/Student Handbook.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of full-time students entering program | MN degree 6 D.N.P. degree 4 | 9 | 9 | 12 |
| Number of part-time students entering program | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Graduation rate | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Attrition rate (includes withdrew or transfers) | 10% | 0% | <10% | 0% |
| Certification pass rate - 1st time | 91% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Certification pass rate total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |