Preparing you for a career in birth:
•Certified Professional Midwife
•Birth Assistant
•Labor Support/Postpartum Doula
•Maternal Child Case Manager
Enhancing your career in:
•Public Health
•Social Work
•Women’s/Gender Studies
Serving the well-being of our people and the communities to which we belong.
Certified Professional
Midwifery Program
MMCI offers an Associate Degree that prepares students to become Certified Professional Midwives. MMCI’s curriculum is designed to promote midwifery leadership and independence so students can acquire the skills and confidence that will prepare them for a midwifery career.
The CPM Program is a three-year course of study consisting of 49 learning modules taught by experienced educators and providers who specialize in the module’s content. Each month, modules are taught at a weekend intensive and in study groups that provides an immersion experience into the fundamental theories, science, ethical considerations, and wisdom students need to practice professionally. Clinical opportunities are provided throughout the program. The student learning experience combines real-time Zoom classes with in-person classes and clinicals.
Graduates will be thoroughly prepared for the NARM (North American Registry of Midwives) exam, and we will assist graduates in organizing their portfolios.
For more information about MMCI’s CPM Program, please follow the link to the 2022 MMCI Catalog.
Depending on the legal status of CPMs in the state in which the student resides, students may qualify for licensure.
61 credits.
Contact us for an application
MidwestMaternalChild@gmail.com
Maternal Child Health Specialist Programs
Our Associate Degree and Diploma Programs, offered over 24 months, prepare students to become Maternal Child Health Specialists. Graduates of the programs are qualified to work as: Birth Assistants, Professional Doulas with high level skills, Childbirth Educators, Peer Breastfeeding Educators and Maternal Child Case Managers. And, those working in the fields of Public Health, Social Work, Birth Justice, Women/Gender Studies and similar professions will gain a greater understanding of maternal child health that will enhance their careers.
31 credits.
Contact us for an application
MidwestMaternalChild@gmail.com
MMCI Education Catalog: 2024
Perinatal Educator Certificate Program
This program, generally held over the course of two weekends, is comprised of three modules: Childbirth Educator, Advanced Labor Support/Postpartum Doula, and Peer Lactation Educator—each with a clinical component. Students must complete all three modules and associated clinicals, including Chicago Volunteer Doulas orientation, to receive the Perinatal Educator Certificate.
After receiving your Perinatal Educator Certificate, you will be qualified to:
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Educate your clients about childbirth during pregnancy
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Provide labor support at the time of birth and postpartum
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Offer breastfeeding support postpartum
Contact us for a registration form
MidwestMaternalChild@gmail.com
About MMCI
The Midwest Maternal Child Institute was founded in 2007 by Mary Sommers, CPM, MPS. Initially, MMCI was affiliated with the National College of Midwifery, and In 2010 MMCI became an independent higher educational institution approved by the Educational Approval Program, under Wisconsin Stats. 38.50(10).
Mission
The Midwest Maternal Child Institute's (MMCI) mission is to train midwives and Maternal Child Health Specialists as leaders who are engaged in the larger context in which midwifery care and maternal child health care are provided, and who will act with the integrity and purpose necessary to provide quality care to their clients and their communities.
Administration
Mary Sommers, CPM, MPS, IBCLC
MMCI Founder and Director of Academic Affairs
Mary is the Academic Affairs Director of the Midwest Maternal Child Institute. She is a Certified Professional Midwife licensed in Wisconsin, and holds a Master’s degree in Public Service from DePaul University. Mary has many years of experience and the wisdom that comes from witnessing more than 1,800 deliveries over the past 35 years.
Early in her career, she co-founded Chicago Community Midwives, a not-for-profit homebirth service. Mary has since worked as a midwife, doula, and lactation consultant for various private practices in the Chicago area, and has co- directed several nurse-midwifery practices, including the first free standing birth center in Illinois. Mary was a World Health Organization fellow, studying maternal health and breastfeeding programs in Netherlands and England. She has worked with midwives from Malawi and Grand Valley State to create a midwifery guidebook and APP, and was an advisory board member of CASA professional midwifery program in San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico. Mary has worked for more than thirty years in community health as an administrator and director of maternal child health programs and has supervised more than 40 midwifery students and trained more than 100 doulas in her various administrative roles.
She is the author of More Than a Midwife: Stories of Grace, Glory, and Motherhood and The Doula Handbook. She is featured in the book, Bright Lights of the Second City: 50 Prominent Chicagoans on Living with Passion and Purpose by Betsy Storm.
Laura Ehmann, MA
MMCI Chief Executive Officer and Student Affairs Director
Laura holds a Master’s Degree in Business Communication and a Master's Degree in Transformative Inquiry. She has vast experience in both the public and private sectors, including positions as Development Director of a public radio station, Research Specialist and Proposal Writer for a market research firm, and a Speech Instructor at a community college. Her experience in the health care field includes working as a Clinic Liaison with a mobile medical team serving homeless persons on the streets of Chicago, Mental Health Worker at a large urban psychiatric hospital, and Community Liaison with the Barbados Cancer Society as a Peace Corps volunteer.
CONTACT INFORMATION
MMCI email
MidwestMaternalChild@gmail.com (Laura Ehmann)
MMCI telephone
920.350.5856 (Laura Ehmann)
MMCI website
www.mmcinst.com
MMCI mailing address
Midwest Maternal Child Institute
c/o Laura Ehmann
422 W Madison St
Waterloo WI 53594
MMCI classroom location
Harambee Village
2423 American Ln, Madison, WI
