FEATURED
Black Midwifery Collective says focus will be on ‘culturally responsive care’
The Black Midwifery Collective will start a new program at Kennedy-King College in Chicago to train students on how to help “birthing individuals.” The curriculum will include training on “institutional racism” and “culturally responsive care.”
The program starts this fall with prerequisite courses in math and biology, with specialized courses starting in the spring. Students can obtain a certification to be a licensed midwife in Illinois after also taking courses in nutrition, newborn care, and practical field work experience assisting at homebirths.
The college and the collective aimed to address an “urgent public health need,” according to a joint news release.
“This groundbreaking midwifery program empowers our community to directly address the inequities in Black maternal and infant health across Illinois,” Katonja Walker, the president of the community college, stated.
The executive director of the midwife group said the program at the Englewood neighborhood college will help address “systemic disparities.”
“Prioritizing Black maternal health is a critical imperative to dismantle deep-rooted systemic disparities and save lives,” Star August stated. “When we invest in the well-being of Black mothers, we ultimately strengthen the foundational health, stability, and future of entire communities.”
Her organization seeks to “combat obstetric racism and dismantle institutionalized birth practices.”
The College Fix emailed the listed media contact for the community college, but no one responded. The Fix tried calling the college on September 10 but could not get through to a staffer or leave a voicemail.
The Fix asked why racism was a focus of the program, if the college and collective had concerns that ideological language would turn off potential students, and if midwives would be trained on abortion.
Reached by phone, an unnamed staffer at the Black Midwifery Collective acknowledged receipt of an emailed inquiry, but said she “did not want to engage” with the media.
Kennedy-King College informed The Fix via email on September 17 that it does not have any written agreement with the Black Midwifery Collective, in response to a public records request.
A national pro-life organization offered qualified remarks in support of the new program.
“There is a problem in America today of fewer and fewer choices for birthing services for women having babies,” Kristi Hamrick told The Fix via email.
“Of course, if your program is unclear that it’s women having babies, it’s already off to a rocky start,” Hamrick, a spokeswoman for Students for Life of America, said.
“One issue has been attacks on hospitals when they won’t also do abortions, a critical conscience crisis for faith-based healthcare,” she said.
Programs that promote life-affirming care, not abortion, should be supported, Hamrick said.
“[A]ny program that wants to be sure that babies’ lives are ended in the womb isn’t worth it,” Students for Life said.
A medical reform group criticized the “ideological framing” and said there are other health problems underlying black maternal mortality.
“According to the Illinois Maternal Mortality Data Report from November 2025, the top five causes of pregnancy-related deaths in Illinois for 2021-2022 were substance use disorder, blood clots, COVID-19, postpartum bleeding, and heart conditions,” Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Fix via a media statement.
He is the chief medical officer for Do No Harm, which seeks to eliminate DEI and political ideology from medicine.
These problems “accounted for 71% of those deaths,” and should be treated with “addiction treatment, hospital medicine, and quality medical follow up,” the trained psychiatrist said. A midwife is not qualified to address these underlying problems, Miceli said.
“Focusing on ideological slogans like ‘obstetric racism,’ as well as perpetuating the myth of racial concordance – that black patients need black providers – completely misdirects the conversation, prioritizes the wrong solutions, and does nothing to truly improve the lives of patients,” Miceli said.
The Fix also asked Kennedy-King College and the Black Midwifery Collective for the expected demand for their new program.
For much of the past several decades, direct entry midwives, like those trained by the college, operated illegally and underground in Illinoi. Only nurse-midwives were allowed to practice. A 2021 law in Illinois opened the door for regulating and licensing midwifery again.
A 2019 report estimated there were 700 to 800 home births per year. However, the report noted this could be an undercount since moms would have an incentive to hide that they used an illegal midwife.
Midwives can also deliver babies outside of homes and hospitals at standalone birthing centers which use few or no medical interventions such as epidurals.
