The University of Pittsburgh is planning a nurse-midwifery program, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.
Here are four things to know about the program.
1. The program is a doctoral degree offering that the university hopes to start in 2016 in its School of Nursing.
2. If everything goes as planned, the program will allow aspiring midwives across Western Pennsylvania to be able to stay closer to home for an advanced education, the report notes. Currently, students in the region must travel to Cleveland for the closest similar program, offered by Case Western Reserve University.
3. The program also would contribute to steady growth in U.S. midwifery education, which included 1,096 available student seats in 2014 across 39 programs recognized by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education, according to the report. That's up 23 percent from 2010, the commission found.
4 University officials are currently seeking a pre-accreditation status for the program.