UC nurse-midwifery clinicals: 784 hours and the minimum experiences
UC's online nurse-midwifery MSN has four clinical courses, ANW8006, ANW8060, ANW8062 and ANW8064, worth 784 hours, plus 42 lab hours. Hours alone don't finish the program: you also need minimum numbers of prenatal, birth, postpartum, newborn and gynecologic experiences, including 35 births. At least half your clinical time must be supervised by a CNM or CM.
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784clinical hours across four courses
35births, at minimum
50%of clinical hours, at minimum, with a CNM or CM
42lab hours on top of the clinical hours
The four clinical courses
The clinical courses start in semester 3 with a women's primary care practicum and end with full-scope midwifery in semester 6. The two 224-hour courses, where births happen, come last.
| Course | Semester | Hours | Focus and setting |
|---|---|---|---|
ANW8006 Primary Care of Episodic Illness in Women Practicum | 3 | 168 | Gynecology, reproductive and sexual health, primary and preconception care in CNM or OB/GYN practices, hospital clinics, health departments, FQHCs and family planning |
ANW8060 Nurse Midwifery: Practicum I | 4 | 168 | Outpatient prenatal and gynecologic care, contraception and STIs |
ANW8062 Nurse-Midwifery: Practicum II | 5 | 224 | Labor, birth, postpartum and newborn care up to 28 days, in a hospital or attached birth center |
ANW8064 Nurse-Midwifery: Practicum III | 6 | 224 | Full-scope midwifery care, plus practice management and regulation |
The 784-hour total and the 42 lab hours are UC's figures from the program page. Each clinical course has a didactic partner in the same term, such as ANW8054 Antepartum Care with Practicum I and ANW8056 Intrapartum, Postpartum and Newborn Care with Practicum II.
Minimum experiences you must log
UC's requirements sheet sets floors for the kinds of care you provide and notes that most students end up with many more. Plan each course so the counts build across the program instead of piling up in the final term.
| Experience | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Primary care | 40 |
| Gynecologic care | 80 |
| Antepartum visits | 100 |
| Intrapartum care | 60, including at least 35 births |
| Postpartum visits | 50 |
| Newborn care | 30 |
Gynecologic and primary care counts can start building in ANW8006, and antepartum visits in ANW8060. The intrapartum, birth and newborn minimums rest mostly on ANW8062 and ANW8064, since those are the courses set around labor and birth, so a thin birth volume in Practicum II leaves Practicum III carrying the difference.
Where births can count
UC counts births in hospitals and in birth centers attached to a hospital. Home-birth experience is allowed only in a limited way: up to two weeks of home-birth experience, or five home births at most.
That shapes your choice of preceptor for the birth courses. A CNM with a home-birth practice can add useful experience within that limit, but the bulk of your 35 births needs a hospital or attached birth center, so plan a hospital-based preceptor for ANW8062 and, ideally, ANW8064.
Before a preceptor applies, ask roughly how many births they attend in a typical month and whether a student can be present for them, then check that against the minimums you still need for that term.
Who supervises your hours
Midwifery sets its supervision floor at half your hours, not the 20% that applies in UC's NP tracks.
- At least 50% of your clinical hours must be supervised by a CNM or CM.
- OB/GYN physicians and family practice physicians can precept, including for births if they attend them. NPs may precept in some courses, including
ANW8006. - Holders of LM or CPM credentials can't precept.
- Physician assistants are limited to 20 hours, only in
ANW8006, with program director approval, and only in the states where UC accepts PA preceptors. - There is no minimum number of hours per preceptor, but any clinician you log 8 or more hours with has to file the complete Preceptor Application, with a CV attached.
How to find CNMs who can take you is covered on finding a UC nurse-midwifery preceptor, and the form itself on the Preceptor Application page.
Before Practicum II: NRP, fetal monitoring and CSI 2
Two credentials must be done before ANW8062, Practicum II, starts: a fetal monitoring course and Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) certification. Finish both during the prior term so nothing holds up your first labor and birth shifts.
Two skills intensives are tied to clinical courses, both in the opening week of the term. The one linked to ANW8006 is a single online day. The one linked to ANW8062 brings you to campus for two days of hands-on birth and gynecologic practice, including emergency simulations, so keep those two days clear of clinical shifts. The three-day NURS8020C immersion is added for students from Spring 2027. Formats and dates are on UC's immersions and intensives page.
NRP certification and a fetal monitoring course must be complete before ANW8062 begins. Schedule them in the term before, not in week 1.
Clinicals where you already work
Unlike AGPCNP, the midwifery track lets you do clinical hours at your workplace. The paperwork is UC's Precepting in the Setting Where You Work form: it carries your signature and the program director's, and the director approves and documents the plan. Using someone from your own department as preceptor takes the director's approval as well.
Admission already requires hands-on work with women before, during or after birth, with labor and delivery preferred, so your own unit may be an obvious place to look. Aim to have the signed plan ready by the time the preceptor packet goes in. Your workplace still needs an affiliation agreement with UC and an approved preceptor, like any other site. The employer clinical site page compares this rule with the other tracks.
Timing, approvals and the term calendar
Hours outside the semester's dates don't count, and each course needs a secured site before its second week closes. According to UC's midwifery FAQ, approval arrives three to six weeks ahead of the term as a welcome email, and the preceptor then shows up in eMedley.
Midwifery is one of the tracks where a student may join telehealth visits by live video from elsewhere, if the program director approves the hours. We search for CNM-led practices and hospital birth services that can carry your hours and births, and we help assemble the packet your Clinical Site Coordinator (CSC) reviews. Midwifery packets carry one item other tracks usually don't, the preceptor's CV, so we ask for it at the same time as the application. UC approves every preceptor and site.
Questions UC students ask
Do home births count toward UC's 35-birth minimum?
UC allows limited home-birth experience: up to two weeks, or five home births at most. Otherwise the sheet sets births in hospitals and birth centers attached to them, and it doesn't spell out how home births count toward the 35, so ask your CSC, and plan on reaching 35 in a hospital setting.
Does time with an OB/GYN count toward the 50% CNM rule?
No. The 50% floor counts only hours supervised by a CNM or CM. OB/GYN and family practice physicians can precept the other half, and that time still counts toward your 784 hours and your minimum experiences, so a mixed team works as long as the midwife share stays at half or more.
Does a preceptor I work with for one shift need an application?
If you spend 8 or more hours with them, yes. UC asks for a full Preceptor Application from any midwifery preceptor at that threshold, and midwifery preceptors must attach a CV for accreditation. For shorter contact, ask your CSC how UC wants the time recorded before you log it.
Can a physician assistant precept nurse-midwifery students at UC?
Only for up to 20 hours in ANW8006, with program director approval, and only in states where UC accepts physician assistant preceptors. Kentucky is one of those states; Ohio and Indiana are not. The full list is on PA preceptors at UC.
Do the 42 lab hours count toward the 784 clinical hours?
No. UC's program page lists them separately: 784 clinical hours and 42 lab hours, alongside a skills intensive visit to campus. Plan your precepted time around the full 784 and treat the 42 lab hours as a separate program requirement. If your plan of study seems to count them differently, ask your advisor.
Related pages
Nurse-midwifery (online MSN)UC's online nurse-midwifery MSN: 784 clinical hours, half with a CNM or CM, at least 35 births, a CV from every preceptor, and UC's packet deadlines.Clinical hours by UC trackEvery UC College of Nursing track's clinical courses and hours in one table, 504 to 840 per track, plus the term-date, week-2 and NP-supervision rules.NURS8020C immersion and intensivesFrom Spring 2027, UC's NURS8020C health assessment course adds three days on campus. The dates, what happens, and the midwifery, WHNP and PMHNP intensives.Clinicals at your employerCan you do UC clinicals at your employer? AGPCNP students can't, FNP students can outside their own department, and midwifery needs a signed workplace plan.UC Preceptor ApplicationHow UC's Preceptor Application works: your student section first, what the preceptor fills in, when a CV is required, and which address the packet goes to.Physician assistant preceptorsUC lets physician assistants precept NP students only in listed states, case by case and for limited hours. The state list, the midwifery cap, what to check.
Last checked 2026-09-24
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