ABOUT US

ABOUT CCSM

Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery (CCSM) was developed around principles that have driven midwifery practice worldwide: trust, respect, and necessity.

However, in the United States, midwives are faced with the challenge of not being seen as the optimum choice in providing maternity care, despite proven excellent outcomes.

CCSM is committed to fostering a community of diverse midwives to combat this false narrative and help all people to take back having “their birth their way”.

CCSM provides quality, practical, culturally-sensitive training and education that is integral to maternity health care systems by:

 

  • assembling a training and education program that forms a measurable and competitive advantage for the midwife while promoting growth in women’s health care delivery;
  • providing authentic personal and professional development with clear career paths — a strong magnet which attracts top-quality students;
  • elevating the profession’s profile through robust competency training;
  • ensuring that competency training has the lowest cost structure possible;
  • providing genuine engagement and access to our programs for all communities and,
  • educating and empowering students on the Midwifery Model of Care so they will, in turn, provide access, create connections, share knowledge, and empower birthing people and families to have “their birth, their way”.

Data supports the safety and efficacy of the midwifery model of care. America needs an urgent change in its maternity healthcare delivery system in order to address challenges of rising medical interventions, cesarean sections and healthcare costs, and high infant and maternal mortality rates. CCSM stands for that change – ‘getting to the heart of the matter’ one mother, one baby, one family at a time.

 

Thank you for joining us, and welcome!

Zulgeil Ruiz-Gines, Dean of Midwifery Program

Jennie Joseph, Founder & Board Chair

Commonsense midwifery - Jennie, Chelsea and Zul on the graduation ceremony

Choose Your Path

Your journey to midwifery begins with finding the program that best aligns with your purpose and needs.

At CCSM, we’ve structured our racially congruent and culturally sensitive programs to be rigorous in nature so our students are prepared to become leaders in the maternal health field, as well as in their communities.

All of CCSM’s programs are built and founded on The JJ Way® four tenants;

Access | Connection

Knowledge | Empowerment

VISION STATEMENT

We envision a maternity care climate saturated with culturally sensitive and racially congruent care that results in equitable and superior outcomes in maternal and infant health for all populations.

We seek to reach as many individuals as we can because there is no time to lose. We are in the business of saving lives. In order to achieve our vision, we seek to open a pathway for midwives of color to again become autonomous community providers, to address and redress the historical, structural, and institutional inequities that continue to decimate Black and indigenous people, and to restore trusted birth workers to the heart of their communities once again.

Commonsense midwifery - Jennie and a student
Commonsense midwifery - midwives talking

At CCSM our mission is to provide quality, practical, and culturally sensitive midwifery training and education that will prepare midwives of caliber who can represent themselves and their profession in any arena. 

We aim to inspire our students to become perinatal leaders in the maternal-child health field, willing to provide access to respectful maternity care for all communities with an emphasis on eliminating health disparities through the education and empowerment of women and families so that they can once again safely experience “their birth, their way”.

BECOME A CCSM PRECEPTOR

The Preceptor onboarding process is as easy as…

Step One: Initial contact with CCSM team. We will have a short meet and greet with members of the Clinical Staff in order to get to know your practice and so that you may get to know the school Mission and Vision.  

Step Two: Read the Preceptor Handbook and sign the Attestation Form.

Step Three: Complete the CCSM Preceptor Onboarding Form to review and upload all required documentation. 

Step Four: Complete the trainings that are required by MEAC and CCSM that are due before students placement occurs. 

Step Five: Virtual Onboarding Orientation and Site Visit (approximately 1 hour – 1.5 hours)

Thank you for choosing to be a CCSM preceptor! We recognize and honor the great responsibility you have accepted to train our future midwives and our Clinical staff and Dean are here to support you in this relationship.

LOCATION & FACILITIES

The Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery (CCSM) is located near downtown Winter Garden:

Winter Garden Executive Center
213 S. Dillard Street

Suite 340

Winter Garden, Florida 34787

The school is approximately 800 square feet of space consisting of a library, a classroom, office, kitchen and eating area.

It is located inside ‘The Birth Place’ Birth Center which has two birth suites, nurse and provider support areas, family waiting areas, and four exam rooms. Sharing our school with The Birth Place space means that students will quickly become familiar with the different facets of midwifery so as to optimize learning opportunities.

Commonsense midwifery location map