Corrie (McNear) Helland, FLBC Class of 2022
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Corrie (McNear) Helland will never forget the first time she helped with a newborn resuscitation.
“I started shaking and getting scared,” Helland recalls, but she pulled herself out of her fear, thinking, “No, I have to do my job.”
Helland, who is an alumna of Free Lutheran Bible College, is set to graduate from Mercy In Action College of Midwifery this December as a certified professional midwife. She is training at the Twin Cities Birth Center in St. Paul.
The baby who Helland helped bring back from the edge of death turned one in 2026. Though the child’s birth was harrowing, it also proved something to Helland, “You never know if you’re truly ready until that moment comes, but I walked away from it feeling like I was equipped.”
Since starting her midwifery education, Helland has attended 80 births and over 300 prenatal care visits. Helland seeks to be a nurturing, comforting, helping hand that causes the mothers to feel the love of God.
“It really is a calling for me to love people and come alongside people during a short but intense season of their life,” Helland said.
As she trains as a midwife, Helland faces many nights when she is called out of sleep to serve by the side of a laboring mother. “That mama has waited nine months for this moment to finally be in labor and to meet her baby,” Helland said. “It’s not about me. … Babies come in the middle of the night, and you can’t help that. … It’s not always easy, but it’s such an honor too to get to be in that moment with those families.”
The opportunity to minister to the women she serves is a major motivation for Helland. The midwife she trains under will sometimes pray with women who are laboring, which has empowered Helland to do the same. Helland sees the conditions she works under as ideal for evangelism because she is with women during some of their most life changing and vulnerable moments and is key to helping mothers process when there are complications or loss.
“When else do you have opportunities like that to be intimate with people?” Helland said. “They trust you, and you can share the gospel and love on them, and people can see the difference with that. They will know you by the love of Jesus.”
This winter, Helland’s choice to become a midwife was confirmed when she herself underwent care for her pregnancy and birth at the Twin Cities Birth Center. Helland and her husband, Matt, who is also an FLBC alumnus, welcomed their daughter, Ava, in January.
“(Midwives) are doing good work,” Helland said. “It blessed me, and so it will be a blessing to others as well and change outcomes.”
The midwifery program Helland chose focuses on holistic health and globally and culturally competent midwives. Helland’s training includes certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and neonatal resuscitation, as well as classes covering pregnancy, postpartum, healthy labor and birth, birth defects, labor complications, and women’s health.
Before starting her midwife journey, Helland decided to prepare herself for a life of service by studying at FLBC.
“I knew that I wouldn’t regret investing that time into the Word because that is the basis of life and our purpose in this life,” Helland said.
Helland’s favorite classes were the exegetical Old Testament classes she took under Dr. Brent Olson. Seeing the connections between fulfilled prophecies and future eschatological fulfillments made her knowledge of the Bible grow greatly.
“God is still working today, His story is continuing.” Helland said.
The faith she invested in at FLBC is what keeps Helland grounded as she pursues her vocation amid its harsh demands. Looking to the future, eventually Helland hopes to partner with another midwife to start her own in-home midwife practice, but for now, she will be continuing to work at the midwife center once she is fully certified. She also would like to grow her own family.
As she stands on the cusp of her career, Helland’s goal is to be a godly, loving midwife assisting women to experience one of the greatest joys of their lives: meeting their child.
“The Lord does meet you in the really hard parts of labor as well as the easy parts,” Helland said. “I can be the hands and feet of Jesus in that very real, needed way.”
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