The Rutgers Midwifery program’s New Jersey Midwifery Education Project, funded by the New Jersey Department of Health aims to:
Midwives are advanced practice experts with master’s or doctorate degrees who specialize in low-risk, person-centered sexual and reproductive care, primary care, prenatal, labor and birth care, and care of newborns.
Increasing access to midwifery care by growing the midwifery workforce in New Jersey is an important strategy to improve health and equity for pregnant and birthing people. Scientific evidence demonstrates that midwifery care both improves perinatal and reproductive health outcomes and decreases health disparities.
Midwifery preceptors are essential to growing the midwifery workforce. The NJ Midwifery Education Project supports preceptors through focused educational programming that helps practicing midwives develop effective clinical teaching skills while earning continuing education units.
Preceptor learning opportunities include:
The NJ Midwifery Education Project research team has developed a growing body of research focused on midwifery education, clinical training quality, and workforce sustainability in New Jersey and across the United States.
Blumenfeld J, Alspaugh A, Lindberg LD. 2026. Strengthening the Midwifery Workforce Through State Investment in Midwifery Education: The New Jersey Midwifery Education Project. J Midwifery & Women’s Health.
Alspaugh, A., Blumenfeld, J., Lindberg, LD. 2026. Early Career Midwives’ Recommendations to Improve Clinical Education: “Honestly, We Just Need to Do Better”. J Midwifery & Women’s Health.
Lindberg, LD., Blumenfeld, J., Alspaugh, A. 2026. Midwifery Students’ Experiences Obtaining Clinical Placements and Associations with Training Quality: “I had to figure it out on my own” J of Midwifery & Women’s Health.
Blumenfeld, J., Alspaugh, A., Kantor, L., Hill, E., Lindberg, LD. 2026. The Impact of Scholarships on Midwifery Students’ Educational Experiences. American Journal of Nursing.
New Jersey’s investment in midwifery student scholarships at the Rutgers School of Nursing are achieving their goals:
Early outcomes show clear benefits and underscore the importance of continued state investment.
The Midwifery Simulation Center at Rutgers School of Nursing, located in the Stanley S. Bergen Building in Newark, provides a state-of-the-art environment for hands-on midwifery training. High-fidelity simulation models, realistic task trainers, and authentic clinical equipment support structured learning experiences that prepare students for full-scope midwifery practice.
Improving maternal-child health and expanding equitable access to midwifery care throughout New Jersey and beyond
