Deliver a baby in simulation, from a natural birth to a C-section, before your first day on a labor ward.

Obstetrics is the privilege of being present at the very first moments of a new human life, and a foundational field for anyone serious about women’s health or medicine. This hands-on, self-paced online course is paired with The Apprentice Doctor® Obstetrics Simulation Kit, which includes the items you need for the 21 practical projects.

What’s inside the course

1. Female reproductive anatomy and physiology

Female reproductive anatomy, the hormonal regulation of the menstrual cycle, ovarian function and gamete production, and fertilization.

2. Pregnancy and prenatal care

Prenatal development and growth, the placenta, what happens to the mother’s body, and the prenatal screening, diagnostic tests, and lifestyle factors behind good antenatal care.

3. Maternal-fetal complications

The conditions you need to recognize, worked through with case studies: ectopic pregnancy, hyperemesis gravidarum, hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, intrahepatic cholestasis, and placental disorders.

4. Labor and delivery

The three stages of labor and the mechanism of labor, induction and augmentation, and cesarean section.

5. Postpartum care

The hormonal shifts after birth, and how to care for mother and baby.

6. Practical projects

The hands-on core, including:

• Sterile and aseptic technique, and suturing skills
• Listening to fetal heart sounds, assigning an APGAR score, and examining the newborn
• Basic neonatal resuscitation
• Natural birth simulations, including twins, forceps and ventouse delivery, and episiotomy
• C-section simulations, dry and wet, including twins

7. Careers and assessment

A guide to careers in obstetrics and midwifery, and a final assessment.

Who should enroll

Pre-med and medical students, future obstetricians and midwives, and nursing students considering labor and delivery.

Setting

Online and self-paced.

Duration

About 45 hours, including the labs and practical projects.

We recommend you don’t rush it. Keep to about three hours a day so each topic has time to settle. With full-time study you could finish in a week or two, but spacing it out works better for what you actually remember. Before each session, take a few minutes to review the previous day’s work.

Requirements and instructions

– Register with Apprentice Doctor Academy

– Enroll in the course

– Get the Simulation Kit (optional, but you’ll need it to complete the 21 hands-on projects and practice the techniques you learn)

Certified credits

Counts as the equivalent of forty-five shadowing hours.

One half academic credit per 80 hours of courses taken. Transcript available upon request.

Warnings

– The course and kit are for simulation and training only, not for any clinical use or application. It does not qualify of license you to practice medicine on real patients.

Click here to order your Apprentice Doctor® Obstetrics Simulation Kit