History of the College

The International College of Spiritual Midwifery (I.C.S.M.) had its beginnings in 1988, when a group of women gathered together for five days to explore the depths of their individual and collective connection. They wanted to know more about living in a woman's body, with the ever-changing events and challenges, surprises and wonders it provided. They looked to live their female existence to its fullest. 
What they found were many gaps in their knowledge. They committed to filling those gaps, and to embody as fully as they possibly could the woman's journey. 

So successful was this first gathering in its capacity to hold and nurture the deep feminine that many, many more gatherings have followed and thousands of women are now living their lives more fully. 

Today I.C.S.M. is a community of women, working together in an organic and dynamic way, providing a range of programs for women and their families. It is a unique and practical example of women in community living ancient women's knowledge in a modern context. 
I.C.S.M. programs have been held throughout Australia and New Zealand. 

In August 1997 The International College of Spiritual Midwifery officially opened at The Queen Victoria Women's Centre in Melbourne. In August 2002 the College relocated to the Hawthorn Birth Centre, in Barkers Rd Hawthorn. 

At the end of 2005 the Hawthorn Birth Centre finally closed its doors. ICSM is currently conducting most of it's courses at the beautiful Yarra Valley location of the Centre for Human Transformation.

 Aims of the College

The International College of Spiritual Midwifery aims to awaken the spirit of midwifery and promote its art. We aim to provide the opportunity for women to undertake the journey to freedom, through information and making fully informed choices. 

To achieve this goal we hold radically innovative seminars, workshops and individual sessions and provide access to internationally recognised teachers and practitioners. 

We provide a comprehensive package of knowledge, support and practical training for natural pregnancy, birth and parenting. We provide midwives, doctors and birth attendants with the opportunity to explore themselves and their relationship to birth, to learn techniques that will enrich their own experience and enable them to become more valuable resources for birthing families. 

 Our Vision

The teaching of the International College of Spiritual Midwifery is centred on returning women to the sovereignty of their own bodies, and to the inherent power within. For as women, we are part of a continuum, our ancestors live within in us, just as we will live within our descendants. Our mothers arrived from our grandmother's womb carrying the ovum that would become us. 

As a woman's life traverses its many directions and turning points, including sexuality, ovulation, menstruation, conception, pregnancy, birth, lactation, motherhood, menopause and grandmotherhood, pathways are created to allow for awareness, growth and transformation. 
Spiritual Midwifery reclaims a woman's power in her own process. It allows women the chance to remember how to listen to their bodies, and trust in their ability to respond to this new intelligence. In this, a deep inner knowing pervades and strength is brought to all undertakings. 

The more a woman is able to be herself as a woman, the more she is able to be with other women as they travel the rich and sometimes challenging landscape of womanhood. From the anglo saxon "med-wyf" meaning wise woman or witch. When women live their lives in this way balance can be present on the Earth. This way of living gives men a point of reference with the feminine that invokes and insists on their highest potential also being realised. 

Children who are born of and cared for by such women and men grow strong in their own sense of responsibility. It is in this that we create the future we wish for our children and the generations to come.

 

 

Note: The nurses board of Victoria has responsibility under section 118 of the Health Professions Registration Act 2005 to approve courses which can lead to endorsement or registration as a midwife there are three methods of obtaining a midwifery qualification, being 1 direct entry bachelor of midwifery, 2 the bachelor of nursing/bachelor of midwifery double degree, and 3 the graduate diploma of midwifery.

The International College of Spiritual Midwifery does not conduct approved courses of study that provide qualifications for registration as a midwife in Victoria.