Black Midwifery Collective
Email Newsletter
August 2026
Happy August! As some of you might know, this is a significant month for us at Black Midwifery Collective. And we could not be more excited to share it with you.
On August 25th, we are officially celebrating the launch of the first Direct-entry Midwifery Program in partnership with Kennedy-King College. A monumental step forward in expanding educational pathways for future Black birth workers and strengthening community-led, culturally congruent reproductive care. Be sure to scroll down to explore full program details, learn about our vision, and RSVP to join us for the launch event!
Alongside this milestone, August also marks National Breastfeeding Month. This dedicated time allows us to honor, uplift, and normalize breastfeeding while advocating for equitable lactation support and reproductive justice for Black families (explore this month’s national themes and initiatives here). Thank you for standing with us as we continue to grow, educate, and reclaim our birth and feeding traditions.
As we move through this month, we also hold space for Black August—a tradition of reflection, study, and ancestral honor dedicated to the long lineage of Black liberation, self-determination, and resistance. For us at BMC, Black August is a powerful reminder that birth justice, bodily autonomy, and freedom work are deeply intertwined. We honor the freedom fighters and community keepers who came before us, and we recommit ourselves to building safe, liberated, and thriving futures for Black parents, babies, and birth workers.
In this newsletter:
>>> RSVP to the official Program Launch of the first Direct-Entry Midwifery Program in IL
>>> Be a clinical site/preceptor with us!
>>> Submit photos for our open call
>>> Updates on what the BMC team is up to
>>> Community news and resources
Share Your News With Us!
Are you a community-based birth worker, community member, partner, funder, or friend of the collective with news to share? We want to amplify your voice! If you have upcoming events or announcements, please reach out to us here so we can feature them in a future issue.
BMC Program Updates
RSVP NOW | Join us for the celebration of our Midwifery Program Launch in partnership with Kennedy-King College!
Join us on Tuesday August 25 at Kennedy-King College (U Building) for the formal launch celebration of Chicago’s first direct-entry midwifery program!
You will be able to:
✅ Learn more about this historic initiative
✅ Meet community-based birth workers, policy-makers, advocates, and families who support midwifery work.
✅ Program Launch ceremony & Film screening
✅ Food and refreshments
Door @9am, Ceremony begins @10:30am.
Everyone is welcome to attend. To help us plan and prepare the space, please take a moment to register online.
We are in the process of preparing an online information session for interested students this month. The information will be virtual ONLY.
Please stay tuned for future announcements!
Become a Preceptor / Clinical Site
Black Midwifery Collective is working diligently to put all the pieces in place for the opening of the Licensed Midwifery Program at Kennedy-King College for the fall 2026 semester.
An essential component is identifying a clinical site for every student and expanding their options. If you are interested in becoming a preceptor or have information on potential clinical sites. We therefore ask that you fill out the Preceptor/Clinical Site Survey.
If you have any questions please contact Hilary: hilary@blackmidwiferycollective.org
Call for Photos: Our Images, Our History Submit Your Photos For Midwifery Program Launch
For part of the program launch ceremony, we are collecting real-life images from midwives/community birthworkers, Grand Midwives, and those who learnt from a Grand Midwife.
We ask you to share your old photos from your stack of albums, photos of your community, photos of you caring for parents and babies, cool selfies you took, black and white historical images you cherished over the years. We want to build a collage of our personal visual history to show a broad audience what Midwifery Care, especially Black Midwifery care, looks like, and because our stories matter.
Please share your photos with us by filling out the form below. (You will need to login to your google account to submit, if you do not have an account please email directly)
The Midwifery Policy Collective Update
Last month we shared that we are one of 10 state teams that were selected by the Midwifery Policy Collective to champion access to midwifery care in our community. We would like to give a brief update on the work we will be doing:
- Develop a shared policy agenda comprised of 2 to 3 policy priorities guided by key stakeholder input and aligned with existing birth equity initiatives.
- Develop an advocacy plan to advance each of the policy priorities, including objectives, strategies, and coalition partners.
- Mobilize an advocacy coalition to support and advance our policy priorities through key stakeholder engagement and other strategies.
Our work in this collective will also align with the priorities laid out in IL Birth Justice State Strategic Plan and the Illinois Birth Equity Blueprint.
Community Events
Connect with us at Let’s Talk About Sex 2026!
Team BMC will be attending the Let’s Talk About Sex! (LTAS) conference. The nation’s largest Reproductive Justice conference this weekend Aug 6-9th, 2026, in Chicago!
Join BA NIA Inc.’s 2026 Maternal Health Walk | Sep 19
Join BA NIA Inc. for their annual Maternal Health Walk—a morning of community, celebration, and collective action to advance reproductive justice and birth equity across Chicagoland.
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Check-in: 8:30 AM
Walk Begins: 10:00 AM (promptly)
Location: Dan Ryan Woods, Major Marshall Trail, Central Picnic Grove #3
Register to walk, make a donation, sponsor, and volunteer!
Join us at #BMHC26!
Join BMC and register for the Black Maternal Health Conference and Training Institute. This is the global assembly for Black maternal health equity, scholarship, innovation, policy, and advocacy.
When: September 10-12
Where: Atlanta, GA
See you there!
BMC Seeds of Knowledge
Welcome to Seeds of Knowledge, our new monthly corner dedicated to the wisdom that fuels our work. We will share resources that nourish us such as podcasts, books, and articles that move the needle for our community. We believe that growth is a collective effort. Have a resource that’s inspired you? Reach out and share your “seeds” so we can keep this garden thriving together.
This month’s “Seed” is the The Chicago Illinois Doula Coalition Network’s new website!
This is an exciting milestone in working to build a stronger, more connected network of doulas, birth workers, families, healthcare partners, and advocates working together to advance birth equity across Illinois.
In the coming months, they’ll be adding new educational resources, training opportunities, advocacy initiatives, community events, research, and tools that support birth workers and expand access to culturally responsive care. There will also be exciting new initiatives—including a statewide resource center, a family resource mobile app, and a framework for doula education—that will make it easier for families to find trusted support and for birth workers to connect, learn, and lead.
We would love to feature your events! If you are a partner organization, advocates, educator, and/or a community member who have events and news to share, please send your information via email.
Copyright (C) 2026 Black Midwifery Collective. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.
Our mailing address is:
Black Midwifery Collective 6127 S University Ave Ste. 1315 Chicago, IL 60637-7418 USA
