NORTHEAST REGION
$678,000 FCLF financing (2 loans)
Building acquisition loan
5,800 square foot building 

The Florida School of Traditional Midwifery (FSTM) has provided training for midwives since 1994. FSTM’s vision is that every person should have access to the maternity care provider of their choice and to information necessary to make informed decisions. Their goal is to provide an education that prepares students to practice independently as a Florida Licensed Midwife and respect the rights of all individuals. Its graduates are providing families throughout Florida with safe, high-quality, cost-effective maternity care. The education of midwives benefits low-income clients, as the cost of an out of hospital birth is significantly less expensive than hospital births, and it is covered by Medicaid. FSTM is only one of three midwifery schools in the southeastern U.S. Since opening, FSTM has graduated over 130 midwives (as of August 2017), which is 2/3 of all current, actively practicing midwives in Florida.

With financing from Florida Community Loan Fund in 2004, FSTM acquired a historic 19th century home in Gainesville, Florida that was a former physician’s clinic. In 2018 an additional FCLF loan is helping FSTM re-open a dormant midwifery school in Miami and expand education of midwives to South Florida.

For more information, visit www.midwiferyschool.org
To view more photos, visit our Flickr page for the Midwifery School.