Submission Guidelines

Publications for birth practitioners, childbirth educators and parents-to-be.

General Guidelines

Midwifery Today is an electronic publication for birth practitioners and interested parents. We emphasize natural childbirth, breastfeeding, networking, and education. Our aim is to foster communication between practitioners and families and to promote responsible midwifery and childbirth education around the world.

We seek a balance of scientific/technical material and “softer” personal and/or philosophical articles, including birth-related art, poetry, and humor. We consider submissions on all aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. The professional and business aspects of midwifery, doula,  and childbirth education are also of interest to our readers.

Concise material that clearly expresses your knowledge, experience, feelings, or findings will receive consideration. If you are submitting an instructive article aimed at midwifery procedure or practice, please be accurate and factual. Identify and credit your sources of information. We encourage you to include web and video links, if relevant, in your submission.

Please see our online MT Editorial Style Sheet (PDF) and sample references for reference format and general style guidelines. Proofread your work and be sure it follows our style guidelines. We reserve the right to edit for clarity, content, and length. We like to work closely with our contributors and, whenever possible, give contributors the opportunity to review all edits.

E-mail your article to mgeditor@midwiferytoday.com (see Article E-mail Guidelines.) Please attach your article as a .doc or .rtf file or include it in the body of the e-mail. Do not send your article as a pdf. Include your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address on the first page. Please include a biographical sketch, written in third person and in no more than 40 words. If you wish to withhold your name, please indicate whether you prefer an anonymous citing, your initials, or a pseudonym. We welcome photos with your submission. Please see our photo guidelines for acceptable formats.

Please Note:

  • We will generally not consider previously published articles.
  • We reserve the right to edit for clarity, content, and length. When possible, we give contributors the opportunity to review all edits prior to publication.
  • Midwifery Today is a nonpaying market. Contributors receive a complimentary one-month Online Membership, and authors of full-length feature articles receive a complimentary one-year Online Membership.
  • A mailing address and biographical sketch should accompany all submissions.

All writers whose articles are accepted for publication will be required to sign and return an exclusive Copyright Transfer Agreement prior to publication of the work. Click here to view a copy of the agreement.

Editorial

Midwifery Today Features and Columns

Full Length Articles: We are interested in all pregnancy, birth, and postpartum subjects directed toward midwives, doulas, childbirth educators, or their clients. We accept technical, objective (journalistic reporting), as well as instructive, personal experience articles. Birth stories are also welcome. References are encouraged, where appropriate, and suitable photographs, charts, diagrams, and other graphics may clarify or enhance your article. We encourage the use of web and video links, when appropriate. Please do not feel constrained by quarterly themes. Write what you are passionate about—that usually makes for a great article.

Midwifery Today Editorial Themes

Issue # Theme Author Deadline Publish Date
149 The Strength of Midwifery January 2024 March 2024
150Applying Labwork to CareMarch 2024June 2024
151Homebirth and CesareanJune 2024September 2024
152Clinical Strategies for Better BirthSeptember 2024December 2024

Midwifery Today features the following topics in its publications:

  • Clinical articles on midwifery techniques and practices.
  • Stories with a geographic focus that cover pregnancy and birth in a specific area.
  • Birth stories by practitioners that share insights or information learned.
  • Birth stories by mothers or other family members, with the intent of helping birth practitioners gain knowledge and understanding. These should be powerful, poignant, challenging, entertaining, and educational.
  • Recipes for tinctures, hot packs, herbal treatments, salves, teas, and nutrition-packed recipes for pregnancy and labor.
  • Remedies: Choose a favorite herb, aroma, or homeopathic that you use for pregnancy, birth, postpartum, or lactation and describe its preparation and use. Or choose a topic or condition and describe a variety of remedies. In either case, be specific about preparation and dosage.
  • Business information, systems, and suggestions to help midwives, doulas, and childbirth educators improve their practices.
  • Autobiographical or biographical portraits of practitioners: how and why did you or someone else enter the birthing field; your training, practice(s), goals, family, non-birthing interests, and insights.
  • News, litigation, information, advice, pending legislation and insurance issues concerning the practice of midwifery in your area. Opinion pieces.
  • Poetry on pregnancy, birth, and midwifery.
  • Midwifery from around the world. Send us articles that discuss pregnancy, birth and postpartum subjects, customs, traditions, remedies, cultural roles, legal issues, challenges, or triumphs from a global perspective. Describe the status of birth and midwifery in your country. Submission of photos is strongly encouraged.

Media Reviews:

We also feature reviews of books, video, and other media. If you submit a review, include the following information: author(s)/editor(s), name of product, cost, pages/length, format, publisher/producer name, address, phone. Limit reviews to 600 words. The item should be relevant to birth practitioners or parents. Explain why it is or isn’t helpful and give readers a feel for what the product is like. What topics are covered? Are they covered clearly and thoroughly? Are references included? If it is a book, does it include photos or illustrations?

Article E-mail Guidelines

Save your article in one of the following formats:

  • .rtf (Rich Text Format)
  • .doc (Microsoft Word)
  • .txt (Plain Text)

Send only one attachment per E-mail. E-mail your document to BOTH of the following addresses:

shannon@midwiferytoday.com mgeditor@midwiferytoday.com

Photography and Artwork

Overall Guidelines

Please provide images that are 300 dpi or higher in resolution without any watermarks.

Acceptable image formats: PDF, TIFF, JPEG, and EPS.

We generally pay $15 per image, and $25 for the full set of Photo Album images. A cover image will receive $25. You will also receive a complimentary three-month Online Membership and a PDF of the entire issue in which your photo(s) appear. However, there is no compensation for photos submitted with articles.

We like pictures of mothers and babies together, babies alone, siblings with babies, etc. Photos that involve midwives, doulas, midwifery students, and specific procedures/positions/equipment are also helpful.

Photo Submission Guidelines

In general, please do not e-mail photographs or artwork. However, if necessary, send only one attachment per e-mail to design@midwiferytoday.com. To send multiple images, we prefer to use Dropbox or a similar online file-sharing service. Please e-mail design@midwiferytoday.com for instructions.

Do not send photos to shannon@midwiferytoday.com.

Mission Statement

Through networking and education, Midwifery Today’s mission is to return midwifery care to its rightful position in the family; to make midwifery care the norm throughout the world; and to redefine midwifery as a vital partnership with women.

For more information about Midwifery Today, Inc., please click here.


Submission Guidelines for Midwifery Today E-News

A free biweekly online publication for all childbirth practitioners and interested parents. Our intention is to reach beyond our print capabilities as well as to expand our already existing Internet capabilities by offering a quick and timely way to inform, network, and support those who work with women during their childbearing years. E-News features convenient links to other appropriate and helpful sites, and an eventual link to the Midwifery Today articles database. It is also a springboard to other Midwifery Today Internet projects. Subscribing is easy; go here.

E-News invites you to submit material you would like to share with our subscribers. Please note the following guidelines:

  1. All material must be e-mailed. Please send to this address:
    mgeditor@midwiferytoday.com.
  2. Your e-mailed submission must be received in the form of a standard E-mail message, not an attachment. Include your full name and city/state or country.
  3. We do not accept graphics at this time. Photography and art are always considered for our print publication, however.
  4. Please limit yourself to one to seven paragraphs. We strive for brevity so busy birth practitioners can receive information that is useful yet quickly read. Longer submissions will be considered for Midwifery Today.

Please consider the following topics for submissions: techniques that have worked for you; news items (please em your sources); and favorite herbal remedies or related therapies, such as aromatherapy or homeopathy. Also, ask questions, make comments, sound off, or otherwise respond to material in past issues of E-News.

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