Background
The name of our fellowship is a legacy tribute to Black Midwives in the United States. Prior to the Civil War abortion and contraceptive care were legal, and Black Midwives provided community-based care inclusive of abortion care and reproductive health care to all communities. Post legalized enslavement there was a public and national smearing campaign of Black Midwives in the obstetric field as physicians sought capital gain, recognition, and a professional monopoly. These actions excluded the advancement and continued work of Black Midwives in this country as a trusted provider, especially in Black communities. Additionally, midwifery governing organizations barred Black people from membership, further severing Black Midwives from their own communities. With the loss of Black Midwifery, there was also loss of cultural safety, respect, wisdom, truth-telling, and the nurturance that Black midwives provide to communities. Today, less than 7% of US midwives are Black. There is no way to correct the harms of these actions, though there is repair work to be done now. The Black Midwifery Fellowship in California is one form of this.
The Black Midwifery Fellowship in California is the second in the nation, the first led by Nikia Grayson in Nashville Tennessee. In California the Nurse-Midwives of San Francisco General Hospital sponsored a pilot year of the program in 2023-2024. For 2024-2026 the fellowship will be sponsored by the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI). We will launch our inaugural cohort of 2 fellows September 2025 -August 2026. The BMF in CA is as a part of the Reproductive Health Services Corps (RHSC). The Corps is comprised of 6 organizations: Training in Early Abortion Comprehensive Healthcare (TEACH), UCSF School of Nursing, CSU East Bay School of Nursing, Nurses for Sexual & Reproductive Health (NSRH), Abortion Care Training Incubator for Outstanding Nurse Scholars (ACTIONS) and the BMF in CA. The goal of the RHSC is to expand educational and training opportunities in contraception and abortion to all members of the healthcare team in CA.
The Black Midwifery Fellowship seeks Certified Nurse- Midwife candidates whose experience, teaching, research, and/or community service have prepared them to contribute to our commitment to midwifery excellence. The program is open to all who meet academic, professional, and interest criteria. Race, gender, or other protected categories or proxies for protected categories are not used in selecting candidates.