The aim of this project was to assess the strengths and limitations of student teaching for
midwife-led clinical practices in California through an anonymous survey. Decades of research
shows that midwives dramatically decrease maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality in labor.
and postpartum. As of 2020, in the US there are approximately 4 midwives per every 1,000 live
births. According to the American College of Nurse Midwives, to be on par with other
high-income countries with better outcomes, we need to aim for a minimum of 25 midwives per
1000 live births, a gap of 80,000 midwife providers. Unfortunately, expansion is bottlenecked by
the small number of clinical sites and trained midwives who teach/ precept midwifery students.
Advanced practice providers, in particular midwives, can help bridge the care gap by providing
gynecological care through the lifetime and obstetrical care to birthing persons. The survey
aimed to identify strategic ways to address the preceptor shortage and understand the tools that
midwives are already utilizing in teaching future generations of midwives.