The Midwifery Institute of Philadelphia University is committed to the development of the profession of midwifery. We believe that midwives provide a distinctive type of care that benefits women and families. The Midwifery Institute's mission statement is “to promote midwifery for the betterment of women's health.” That mission is realized through consulting, research, and both continuing and basic midwifery education.

The Midwifery Institute was founded in 1996 by a group of midwifery educators as the Institute of Midwifery, Women, and Health. The Founding Board of Directors all had extensive experience in midwifery practice and education. They wanted to create an institution that would speak clearly on issues related to midwifery in the United States and that would be inclusive of all types of midwives in our country. The Midwifery Institute of Philadelphia University continues to have this focus.

We want midwifery care to be available in every community in our country. Therefore, we have designed our midwifery educational program as a community-based distance learning program. The students who are attracted to the program represent a cross-section of individuals who prefer the independence of on-line/community based education or for whom on-campus programs are inaccessible. The reasons may relate to their geographic locale, the expense of many on-campus programs, or their need for more creative and flexible scheduling of their studies. Many of the students come from small towns and rural communities, where they plan to stay. Of our graduates, approximately 50% are working in rural or underserved areas.