Important midwifery skills

What midwifery skills are most important to learn before you are responsible at a birth? How do you attain those skills?

I think it is important know how a student will react when faced with an emergency. Will the student jump into a focused, take-charge mode, or have an urge to stand back? Can the student think clearly in times of stress or does the brain become muddled? These are questions to know the answer to before being the primary midwife –Janice Marsh-Prelesnik