Midwifery students get creative to earn supplemental income while apprenticing. Most times, being a student midwife comes unpaid. If you are lucky enough to be paid it only covers some of your gas or eating expenses.
Just because you are not making money from apprenticing does not mean you cannot make money at all.
There are just a few simple rules you may want to follow.
- Talk to your preceptor first. She might have random jobs around the office she will pay for. Such as, one of my student friends works at her busy birth center as the receptionist 1 day a week to help cover gas expenses.
- Be available. If you have a strict job schedule and that makes you miss out on appointments or births – you may want to find another job. Not only does this make you unreliable to your preceptor but it will also take a lot longer to get all of your student numbers. Of course, some preceptors are okay with this but they have to know up front.
- Do not be too prideful. Scrubbing toilets is not beneath you. Many of my friends have cleaned houses while in school. This job can be very flexible. Be upfront with your clients about your on call lifestyle and that you may need to switch cleaning days randomly. If you are called to a birth and scheduled to clean, it is really easy to reschedule for later.
- Know your schedule. It will be easier to work longer hours if you are apprenticing in a small practice versus a busy practice where you are at appointments 5 days a week and births usually fill the other 2 days.
Tried and true ways to make an income while apprenticing.
Doula births
This one is tricky. To be able to take doula clients you need to make sure that your preceptor is okay with you doing this. You need to decide, or rather your preceptor will tell you which birth comes first. If you get called to a midwife client and a doula client at the same time, who do you choose? Do you have back-up doulas to cover for you? Do you clients know that there is a possibility of you not being at their birth?
Myself and many other friends successfully ran our own doula business while being in an apprenticeship. Personally, once I started taking primary clients under supervision I stopped attending doula births. I did have to call in a backup doula a couple of times. Read more about doula work and other jobs that compliment midwifery.
Placenta encapsulation
Depending on the going rate in your area and if you offer extras like tinctures and salves, you can make an okay income with placenta encapsulation too. The going rate in my area is $200 to $250. You do have the start up costs of the encapsulation supplies and education but neither of these are expensive.
You need a contract for clients to sign and in it include that you have so many hours to return the completed product. For me it was 72 hours due to the fact that I might be at a long birth and not be able to finish their capsules. I also let my clients know when to put the placenta on ice if I was at a birth and could not be there soon to pick it up.
Childbirth Classes
This is another tricky one. Childbirth classes are scheduled. Such as every Friday night for (blank) amount of weeks from 7 to 9 PM. You can easily schedule these around your appointments but not around birth.
Are you going to skip a birth so that you can teach a class? Is that acceptable for your preceptor? Are you going to cancel the class and reschedule it? Did the parents in the childbirth class know that you could possibly cancel it? Do you have a back up teacher to help you out and what will you pay her?
Cleaning Houses/Buisnesses
I discussed this one a little above. This gig takes time and can be very dirty and disgusting at times but it is also one of the most flexible jobs that students have loved.
Just let your clients know about your on call life and that you may have to reschedule a cleaning and most people are okay with it. You will need to buy some cleaning supplies. The cost varies depending on the brands you bicycle.
Sewing/Crafting
Many students have side jobs crafting. These can be sewing children’s clothing, making baby weighing slings, rebozos, teething necklaces, t-shirts, etc.
If you are good at something, use your talent! A friend of mine once made $1,000 in a week from sewing quite a few baby weighing slings and selling them in midwifery facebook groups. You can look on etsy to see what other people are marketing to midwives.
Substitute Teaching
If you have enough college credit hours you can substitute teach. The amount of hours needed varies from district to district. I have enough hours from attending college before midwifery school that I can sub in any district near me.
It usually takes a weekend or day training with the district and you can substitute. Students who do this in a slow practice may schedule to teach the days they do not have appointments and wean off when clients are due. Others, may wait until the day they have free and take a job that very morning. I have not done any substitute teaching myself but when I asked what happens if you get called to a birth while subbing, I was told that you just say you need to leave and they call someone else in to cover your class.
Work at Home Jobs
This includes MLM and jobs like scribing medical records. MLM jobs can be hard work and hard to make money with them but if you are good at that kind of stuff, go for it! I’m not good at MLM and have failed quite a few times.
Typing up medical records for other health care professionals can be a good, at home job. Most of these jobs are flexible and let you log on and work whenever you are available.
Transportation
Several students I’ve worked with have taken up driving other people around through Lyft or Uber. If you like this idea but are hesitant to let strangers in your car, you can deliver food. You can sign up with services like Uber Eats and Doordash. Be mindful of your schedule, account for how busy the practice is where you work. I would think it would be rare to be called to a birth while driving but the possibility is there.
Any part time work that lets you leave for births
There are employers that are understanding and work with your on call schedule. One of my friends works at a tanning salon that lets her leave whenever she needs to for a birth. You just have to work it out with your boss. When I worked for the YMCA as a front desk receptionist, they also let me leave for births if called.
Be honest with yourself about what you think you can handle along with your apprenticeship and do not give up! There is always a way to earn income on the side if you look hard enough. You’ve got this!
What other jobs have you done as a student midwife OR would like to try? We could all use a little extra income!
